Based on a 1982 short story by Games of Thrones creator George R.R. Martin, In the Lost Lands marks the latest collaboration between director/co-writer Paul W.S. Anderson (most of the Resident Evil movies) and actress/wife Milla Jovovich. Set who-the-hell-knows when in some other-dimension realm, the film involves a queen (Amara Okereke) who sends the powerful sorceress/witch Gray Alys (Jovovich) to the wilderness of the Lost Lands to find a magical power. The sorceress can’t refuse any request of her, but that doesn’t mean the request is going to have the exact results the asker is expecting.
On the search for this mysterious power, she connects with a guide/drifter named Boyce (Dave Bautista), and the two go on a classic quest, fighting every human and demon imaginable along the way. Meanwhile back with the queen, many of her subjects and seemingly loyal inner circle are plotting against her, so while she is waiting on the arrival of this power, she is battling those around her who also want this magic for themselves. The result of all of this action and dark fantasy is an unholy type of mess that Anderson specializes in.
Set in a very artificial-looking reality, using rudimentary effects and featuring a messy, confusing screenplay (co-written with Constantin Werner), In the Lost Lands is 75 percent exposition, surrounded by 100 percent artificial backdrops, creatures, and other dismal effects that make what is meant to be an epic, wasteland-set adventure story into a 1990s video game, complete with shoddy graphics and worn-over plot.
Jovovich does little more than scowl and look pained, while Bautista at least looks like he’s having some degree of fun even as his character mourns the loss of someone close to him. It turns out the “power” that everyone is looking for is the ability to turn into a werewolf, something that must be taken from the someone currently in possession of said ability—an actual werewolf.
There’s a twist about acquiring the ability, and it further complicates Gray Alys’ ability to grant requests. The film’s lame visuals include the use of animated maps to track the characters’ progress (a la Lord of the Rings or even the opening credits of Game of Thrones), but strangely nothing about this gimmick helps us figure out what’s going on any better or assists us with the geography of the land.
Naturally, the film forces Alys and Boyce into an ill-advised romance, which just drags the movie to a crashing halt even more, if that’s possible. Questions are asked but never answered, motivations for wanting certain people dead are never dealt with, and even the film’s big twist is tedious. I’ll give Bautista credit for at least smelling what this crock is cooking (or giving half a shit about the character he’s playing), but In the Lost Lands is defenseless and worse than pointless.
The film is now playing in theaters.
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