Few director/actor duos have been operating for as long as Paul W.S. Anderson and his favourite muse (and wife), Milla Jovovich. Over the last two decades, we’ve seen Jovovich fight all manner of fiends and creatures under Anderson’s direction in movies like Resident Evil and Monster Hunter. In The Lost Lands, featuring the actor as all-powerful witch Alys,sticks to that formula, offering up an ample amount of both beastly and human foes to slay. But the eyesore visuals and lacklustre plot turn what should be breezy fun into a frustrating bore.
Anderson has been known to mix the digital with the practical in the past, but In The Lost Lands sees him at his most artificial. The post-apocalyptic dystopia he and regular cinematographer Glen MacPherson conjure seems to be aiming for Zack Snyder-esque desaturation but winds up closer to poorly rendered video-game territory, with lighting that feels anything but real. Rarely has being bathed in the actual sun upon leaving the cinema felt as refreshing as it does after spending two hours in this world.
As a duo, Jovovich and Bautista just can’t muster the necessary chemistry.
Only occasionally does an action beat hit a pleasingly silly note that the whole film should have been going for. A booby-trapped gun housing snakes who attack any unsuspecting thieves is daft but amusing, and an early skirmish that recalls the opening of The Book Of Eli is the most stylish and coherent set-piece we get. But several other sequences are hamstrung by either a lack of spatial geography — a scene with a bus hanging over a cliff is a big casualty of poorly chosen angles and overediting — or a lack of tension due to Alys’ ill-defined but seemingly all-powerful skillset.
Jovovich is at her most comfortable when Alys is brandishing her weapons and cutting down everyone in her path. And Bautista — who has showcased impressive acting talent in far better films recently — is serviceable enough as the thinly characterised Boyce. But as a duo, they just can’t muster the necessary chemistry. When the third-act twists arrive, we don’t care about their relationship enough for it to have the desired impact — which could be said about this forgettable film as a whole. Do yourselves a favour and rewatch Mad Max: Fury Road instead — dystopia done right.
