THE LOST CITY

US, 2022, 112 minutes, Colour.

Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, Daniel Radcliffe, Brad Pitt, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Oscar Nunez.

Directed by Aaron Nee, Andrew Nee.

Lost cities in jungle settings. We have been there before! But, we generally enjoy going there again!!

Once upon a time, in fact 1981, there was an academic adventurer searching out relics of antiquity. Everyone knows Indiana Jones. Then, second upon a time, in fact 1984 and 1986, a couple set out on similar kinds of adventures, Romancing the Stone (and Jewel of the Nile). These 1980s adventure fantasies reinforced this genre.

And so, in 2022, former antiquity academic, with a talent for understanding hieroglyphics, who worked with her now deceased husband and still grieving him, who was persuaded to write a series of pot-boiling action adventures, Loretta Sage (Sandra Bullock) is about to set out on a promotions tour of her latest book. The audience is teased by a visualisation of the climax of the book, hero and heroine in a snakepit and then that particular ending deleted!

Loretta is reclusive, has no wish to go on tour but is sometimes literally pushed into action by her agent, Beth, a cheery performance from Da’ Vine Joy Randolph. And the model, who had appeared on the cover of every book, also turns up for the audience, female, there only interest in the launch is seeing Dash, the dashing hero, blonde wig, shirt off… Actually, his real name is Alan, played by Channing Tatum. effectively sending up his screen image with more than a touch of dumb, dumber, dumbest.

A lot could go wrong – and does. First of all, Loretta, dressed in a scarlet/crimson jumpsuit is abducted by a ruthless billionaire, played by Daniel Radcliffe, the script taking advantage of his short stature and making him something of a pipsqueak villain. He has bought an island where he thinks there is hidden treasure and has some hieroglyphics which he wants Loretta to translate. Then, suddenly they are on the island, Loretta bound to a chair, translating, protesting.

Dash, Alan, wants to rescue Loretta and teams with Beth, contacting an expert, Jack Trainer who instantly locates Loretta flying to the rescue, and one of the most action packed attacks on the billionaire and his thugs. It is all is enhanced by the fact that Jack Trainer is played by Brad Pitt – looking as if he is auditioning for a new phase of Indiana Jones films. (And he is not in the film as much as we would like – but, a warning that audiences should not rush out at the first glimmer of final credits because he does reappear!).

From then on, there is rescue, pursuit, dangers, cars over cliffs, shootings, escape by river, climbing mountains… And all the time, some banter between Loretta who is certainly not a cheerful self and poor old Alan whom the screenplay seems to be typecasting as the dumb assistant and then, as he complains, the damsel in distress. Oh, and Beth is on her way for the rescue, encountering a cargo pilot who really fancies her and he does turn up to help in the climax.

Daniel Radcliffe becomes more and more dastardly, recapturing Loretta, Alan in pursuit on a motorbike, by boat to some vast caves, exploration of the caves, a volcano threatening to explode…

A reviewer mentioned the word “cartoonish”. And that seems to be fairly accurate, it is very much a kind of live-action cartoon, action stretching the imagination, some silly situations, some dramatic situations, some comic bantering dialogue.

Which is probably what the audience for The Lost City were buying their tickets for.

1. The title, of the romantic novel, Lost City of D – and the explanations of D?
2. Audience enjoying this kind of romantic adventure, shades of the Indiana Jones series, memories of Romancing the Stone? A variation of the 21^st-century?
3. The basic premise, Loretta Sage, academic when young, expert on hieroglyphics, the expeditions with her husband, his death, her still being in morning, reclusive? But her also writing the action adventures? Popular paperbacks? And the hero, Dash, on the covers?
4. Loretta, Sandra Bullock, her age, background, reclusive, the novels, Beth pressurising her to the book launch, Alan as Dash, the blonde wig, the open shirt, the audience, the questions for Dash, the swooning women? Loretta and her awkwardness, a glamorous sparkling crimson/scarlet jumpsuit? The compere bewildered, Alan overwhelmed? The past between the two and Loretta rather to staining of Alan?
5. Beth, agent, pushy, exasperated, Allison as her assistant, the photos, the plans for the launch?
6. Loretta walking out, being abducted, the meeting with Abigail (and his neutral name), his proposal, the document, her refusal to translate, the plane, chloroform, swept away, landing on the island? Tied to the chair, refusing to translate, Abigail and the confrontation?
7. Alan, the male model, the touch of dumb and dumber, wanting to rescue Loretta? His contact with Jack, the meditation techniques, medication, instantly locating Loretta, going into action, Alan accompanying Jack, the vehicle, his luggage, told to stay in the car, his following, Jack and the Indiana Jones kind of attack? Rescuing Loretta still tied to the chair? The shootout – and the audience aghast that Jack should be killed and his blood and brains sprayed on Alan!
8. The adventures on the island, Loretta in the chair, in the car, the pursuit, the crash, the car over the cliff, their descending, pursued in the water, climbing the mountain, the night together, her lighting the fire, sharing the bunk? The continued adventures, coming to the town, change of clothes, enjoying the respite, the song, the clue for the treasure? Abigail and the men turning up, Loretta abducted again, Alan pursuing on the motorbike, the fight on the top of the vehicle?
9. The boat, the trip to the island, going through the caves, Loretta getting through, the others following, the waterfalls, the discovery of the term, the irony of the story of the shells, no jewels or treasure? Abigail and the decision to bury Loretta and Alan in the two? Ray and his defying Abigail, and leaving the tool in the tomb, their getting out?
10. Abigail, his back story, family, jealous of his brother, buying the island, fanatical? His thugs, defiant, the big thug and his falling to his death, Ray and his change of heart?
11. Beth, the decision to search for Loretta, buying the flight tickets, stranded when the pilot of the small plane was sick, the cargo pilot, the story of his goat, his attraction to Beth, getting her to her destination? On the Coast Guard ship, to the rescue?
12. Loretta, understanding and appreciating Alan better, as rising to the occasion, his back story and home and becoming a model? Devotion to Loretta? The final rescue?
13. The aftermath, a new novel, and happy ever after? And Jack reappearing in the credits?