The Lost World

How can you fault a film that does everything right? This is the question I was left with after I completed 1925's THE LOST WORLD. The film tells of a probably mad scientist who returns with a team of volunteers to the amazon to bring proof to New York of the rumored dinosaurs that live there. The main character is presented as a reporter (Lloyd Hughes), who stumbles about his office and is sent out to cover the mad scientist (Wallace Beery). He volunteers for the scientist's crew to go to the amazon, and along with him come a skeptical scientist, a big-game catcher, a monkey, and an obligatory damsel who will, without a doubt, be in distress at some point in the film. It is clear as the team enters the amazon that they are not in their element, and eery music and scenery aids this tone. The team eventually stumbles across the dinosaurs, which consists of Tyrodactyls, Stegosaurus, Brontosaurus, Tyrannosaurus, and Triceratops. By the time the team encounters the animals, there are a few length sequences of warring dinosaurs, which was created using stop-motion claymation. It's at the most interesting to see the beasts at first, but this novelty wears off, and in 2011, I have seen many a movie-dinosaur, and many of them look a lot better than the ones they could come up with in 1925. I am aware that this was pretty fantastic for moviegoers in 1925, and thus the film should be applauded for bringing such an idea to light in such a great way. But, frankly, this film becomes boring as it becomes obvious that the dinosaurs on screen are the reason why there is an admittedly decent story surrounding them. Will the people of 2100 look back at our films like TRANSFORMERS and AVATAR and think them as silly and outdated as THE LOST WORLD? Is it storyline alone that defines a film as being good either? Not completely, but THE LOST WORLD shows how outdated some of these mediums for entertainment can become. THE LOST WORLD is what it wants to be, and that's not much from a 2011 point of view. The suspense leading up to the unveiled dinosaurs is fun, but after they are revealed, we're expected to revel in their claymation glory.
The Lost World: ★★1/2