Land of the Lost

PERSISTENCE OF MEMORY The Surrealists would have loved Land of the Lost

To the extent that the Ed Wood–on-acid TV series Land of the Lost has endured, it’s been through a combination of nostalgia and cult appeal; few other TV shows have looked as if they were shot in someone’s yard, with each episode seemingly planned in less time than it takes to watch. That sets the bar pretty low for a film version, which would exceed expectations simply by not inspiring a desire to have one’s face clawed by Grumpy the T. rex. So breathe easy: The new Land of the Lost exceeds expectations.

As a daffy scientist who turns on his “tachyon meter” and travels to a parallel dimension, Ferrell does what he can to enliven a film that will clearly be most enjoyed by very young children, a few bizarrely incongruous innuendos notwithstanding. When Ferrell and McBride dress up in shedded Sleestak skin, looking just as unconvincing as the original Sleestaks, you sense that this is a project motivated as much by affection as commercial calculation. Or maybe it’s just a sign of how little is going on that even the pop-culture riffing—notably the Chorus Line jokes—isn’t DOA. No, the world didn’t need an “All Along the Watchtower” montage in which furball Cha-Ka (Taccone) introduces his new friends to the Pakunis’ favorite hallucinogenic. Still, for a mainstream kid flick, Land of the Lost is almost admirably batshit.

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