Review of The Lost City of Z (2017) by Lane Z — 23 Apr 2017

I am going against the grain here with all the positives The Lost City of Z received in the last few weeks. While it wasn't a bad movie as far as the plot and acting were concerned, it just never lived up to all the hype it received due to a particularly leisurely pace and slightly diminished and abrupt end result.

Charlie Hunnam jumped on my radar through Sons of Anarchy, but since his famed TV show and a brief hit with Pacific Rim, he's been very tight lipped...until now. I used The Lost City of Z as a precursor to his upcoming King Arthur tale. I enjoy his acting. Some people harp on his accent, which blends American and British because of his birth and where he was raised, but his slow cadence and matter-of-fact attitude when speaking gives him a strong presence on camera. Z is not the Indiana Jones adventure caper you might be expecting. It's not the National Treasure clue adventure either. Z is based off a relatively true tale of an explorer from Britain in the early 1900's during WWI who helped track and map portions of South America. It's quite a heroic story being told, but the movie doesn't quite make the protagonist as heroic to match. Because of the start-stop direction and bouncing from the jungle on one excursion to being home in London after 20 minutes, nothing feels fluid.

What works for Z is the lead performance from Hunnam as a complex man trying to reclaim his family name. Hunnam's star power, Tom Holland's briefly giving Hunnam's character's oldest son some emotion and life, Sienna Miller's stately, yet independent role as the wife and even Robert Patterson's bullish sidekick all help elevate this film when it isn't dancing around. While we get some beautiful shots and some great imagery, Z struggles mostly from its lack of completion after nearly 2 and a half hours hacking at the branches.