Film Review: The Lost City of Z

"I Know This Is A Sacrifice For All Of Us But It Will Be Worth It..."

At the prestigious age of the mid 40's, director James Gray is ashamedly a director of whose previous work I have to admit hasn't drifted across my attentive senses, with 2008's Two Lovers and 2013's The Immigrant arguably being his most critically acclaimed releases but too films which both seem to have suffered from a limited exposure platform, something of which cannot be said for The Lost City of Z, Gray's latest cinematic adventure based upon the book of the same name by author David Grann in 2009, which alongside featuring a cast including Sons of Anarchy star, Charlie Hunnam, Robert Pattinson, Sienna Miller and the latest incarnation of Peter Parker himself, Tom Holland, is most definitely his highest-profile release to date. Focusing on the true story of archaeologist and explorer, Percy Fawcett, The Lost City of Z is a mixed bag of a movie, a beautifully designed epic which spans from the beginning of the 20th century to the fallout of the Second World War but too a movie which suffers from a sagging narrative which seems to have conflicted notions regarding where exactly it wants to go and what it desires to be.

When it comes to the positives of Gray's latest adventure, there is no questioning the quality and detailed approach the filmmakers have taken in regards to set locations and design, with everything from the clothing attire to the stunning vast plains of the amazonian jungle being a superb feat, particularly upon the big screen. Unfortunately for the movie as an entire body of work however, the cinematography relies so heavily on the element of darkness throughout that sometimes it comes across as a monumental struggle to actually appreciate the lengths to which such the filmmakers have gone due in order to create such a thorough and finely tuned cinematic world. Perhaps the most telling weakness of the film however is the seriously unbalanced pacing, with the film taking almost an age to really get going and into the realm of something actually exciting, for it to then swiftly fall straight back into an element of tedium in a concluding act which doesn't exactly offer rousing levels of closure, begging the immortal question of, "what exactly was that all about?". If you decide that 140 minutes of scenery admiration is what you desire most about cinema, The Lost City of Z is arguably the film for you but for those who seek something of a narrative and sense of enjoyment, James Gray's latest is more of a miss than a direct hit.

Overall Score: 5/10