The Lost City of Z | MOVIE REVIEW

I'm kinda lost for a clever intro for this one, so let's just get right into it.

The Lost City of Z (pronounced Zedd, like the DJ) was directed by James Gray and stars Charlie Hunnam, Robert Pattinson, and Sienna Miller and is, just for the record, not a zombie movie. It's about Percy Fawcett (Hunnam), a British soldier/explorer, and his search for a lost city in the jungles of Bolivia.

My friend Ceejay convinced me to go watch this movie and I went in blind. I didn't read any reviews and knew next to nothing about it other than what I already knew from the trailers. All I knew was that there was a guy and Robert Pattinson and Tom Holland wanna help him look for a lost city somewhere. That was it.

And I actually enjoyed it more than I imagined I would.

This movie struck me as one of those passion project-types, and it shows in everything from the cinematography to the execution of the plot and even just down to the film's massive scope. Everything - all the sets, environments, props - in the movie felt authentic and the attention to detail was amazing.

There definitely was a bit of an "artsy" quality, if you wanna put it that way, to the movie in the way it was shot. In that sense, the film did remind me of The Revenant in the sense that every shot and every frame in it was so well shot and so intricately put together. Some scenes felt as if they would make amazing paintings and others felt as if they would feel right at home in a collection of really old, but really amazing photographs. The cinematography truly is excellent in this movie and it made the whole thing just a blast to watch.

If you took out the sound, it would make for an amazing screensaver.

I also feel like this is one of those movies that will remind folks that the actors in here are actually good actors. Everyone in here did a fantastic job, and I gotta give them props for that. Not only did they carry themselves in a way that would be appropriate for the time period, but they spoke in a way that would fit, as well. The authenticity wasn't just in the environments and sets, folks, the people in it were believable, too.

Some actors probably deserve more props than others.

Honestly, before going into this movie, I felt like Charlie Hunnam was just another Sam Worthington; a likable guy who's good looking and a very functional actor. After coming out of this movie, that changed, and I'm glad now that I know that Charlie Hunnam is a fantastic actor. There was something infectious about his determination to find this place that just got to me, and I related to him in that way.

On top of that, he put a lot of emotion into his role of Col. Percy Fawcett as well. He felt so genuine, especially in this one scene wherein he learns that he might never be able to find what he's looking for, and it was just so moving. He was amazing in this film.

Guess who else was amazing.

And finally, we have a film to remind us that, not only is Robert Pattinson a grown-up now, but he is also a fantastic actor. That's right, folks, he's moved out of the Edward Cullen role and has matured into quite the actor.

I think, out of the many, many characters in the movie, Robert Pattinson's Mr. Costin was my favorite. He reminded me of a mix of Samwise Gamgee, Indiana Jones, and a bit of Han Solo. He's a surveyor, he knows his way around, he knows how to survive in the jungle, but, on top of that, he was a really, really loyal guy. I bought his friendship with Col. Fawcett and I felt the connection between the two of them was genuine and their relationship felt very real. It was a great friendship to see, and both actors were great.

It's the kind of stuff people write books about. *Hint hint*.

Ian McDiarmid's also in the movie. I thought I would throw that out there. It was honestly nice seeing him in a movie again.

Another cast member who threw me for a loop was Sienna Miller, who, in this film, showed me a side to her acting ability that I hadn't quite seen before. She plays Nina Fawcett - otherwise known as Charlie Hunnam's wife - and she was a really good character. She was strong in her own ways, and was, pretty much, wife goals. She was kinda like that Neck Deep song, Part of Me.

In other words, smart, headstrong, and independent.

On top of all that, the visual effects were also great. There's this one World War I scene that reminded me of Saving Private Ryan because of how visceral it was. Some dude got his face blown open. Great stuff; really great stuff.

With regards to the lost city itself, the movie does a great job of giving you a mystery. There's a lot of teasing and build-up and does an amazing job of carrying you along for the ride. And, since the characters are so well-written and so great, that made the adventure all the more compelling for me. I felt relieved whenever the characters felt relieved, I felt intrigued whenever they felt intrigued, and I felt frustrated whenever they felt frustrated.

Unfortunately, that's also the film's biggest weaknesses. I wouldn't say it's a glaring issue, but it's one that needs to be brought up. For all the teasing that it does, it ends pretty ambiguously. Now, I don't have anything against ambiguous endings, and, after reading about the actual Percy Fawcett, I understand why it was ended that way. However, I do think the way they pulled it off in the movie seemed pretty anticlimactic for me.

It's also really long.

For those of you expecting a movie that's a straight-up adventure in the vein of Indiana Jones, you're not really gonna get that. Lost City of Z is around two-and-a-half hours long and covers a lot of content while, at the same time, moving very slowly. That being said, while I, myself, did enjoy it, I can't say that this is a movie for everyone.

There were also a couple of scenes in here that did feel a bit preachy to me. Like, in one exchange, the point was presented until it kept going on and on that it started to feel as if the movie was beating me over the head with it. I get that that specific time period was the dawn of that way of thinking, but I felt that it maybe could've been handled with a bit more subtlety.

It's still pretty good.

Overall, I enjoyed it, although I feel like it might be a bit too artsy for some people. However, if you like good characters, a good adventure, and just really appreciate beautiful cinematography, I think you're gonna have a great time with this one, and I will say that it definitely deserves a Vader thumbs-up.

So, The Lost City of Z - go check it out (if it's still out, at least). If you have, let me know what you thought about it by dropping a comment below. And, as always, this has been Rafa. Stay classy.