In the Lost Lands (2025)

"In the Lost Lands" stars Dave Bautista, Milla Jovovich, Arly Jover, and Amara Okereke.  Released on March 7, 2025, the film has a witch joining forces with a hunter to retrieve a magical gift.

The film was directed by Paul W. S. Anderson, who also directed films such as "Mortal Kombat", "Event Horizon", "Resident Evil", and "Monster Hunter".  It is based on the short story by George R. R. Martin.  If you're looking at heading into the most dangerous place in the world, it's crucial to have some of the powerful beings by your side.  If they happen to the people who battled zombies and space aliens, the chances of surviving would depend on how you feel about their filmography.  We've come across another month that doesn't have many movies to be excited about besides a couple of options, but that doesn't mean they don't have some merits that invoke my desire to take a look.  One of those options is the latest fantasy film from the actress/filmmaker couple who took a stab at our favorite video game franchises and made their fans mad in the process.  After fumbling the ball with their "Monster Hunter" adaptation during the pandemic, Paul W. S. Anderson and Milla Jovovich reunite to bring one of George R. R. Martin's works to the big screen.  Fortunately for us, it's not "Game of Thrones".  Instead, it's his short story that's part of Amazons II, an anthology of fantasy stories edited by Jessica Amanda Salmonson consisting of works featuring female protagonists by mostly female authors.  At least it's something different other than another video game adaptation, but does that make it another tolerable addition to their catalog?  Let's find out.      

The story centers on Gray Alys (Jovovich), a formidable witch feared by everybody.  She's tasked by the desperate queen (Okereke) to find and retrieve a mystical gift from a shapeshifter that can transform into a werewolf.  The artifact is located in Skull River within the "Lost Lands", a dangerous, post-apocalyptic realm filled with dark creatures and merciless enemies.  Her journey leads her to confront a mysterious hunter named Boyce (Bautista) with an unknown motive of his own.  Despite their differences, Gray Alys and Boyce join forces to survive the dreaded "Lost Lands" and confront the shapeshifter.

This is one of those moments where the genre and the names involved are enough to get me interested in a movie.  One name I was familiar with was George R. R. Martin, the man behind "Game of Thrones", which transformed into a global television phenomenon until its final season butchered itself near the finish line.  While Martin wasn't technically involved in the film adaptation of his short story, and I haven't watched "Game of Thrones", seeing his name did get me interested in how it's translated as a feature film.  Additionally, despite not watching the trailers, the movie's plot synopsis and main actors had enough appeal for me to see if they warrant my time.  What can I say?  I'm easily invested in films involving post-apocalyptic fantasies and action-packed chaos.  It's my strength but also my weakness if a movie doesn't deliver on its apocalyptic merits.  "In the Lost Lands" is part of that weakness, which may or may not be enough to question my cinematic curiosity.

Do you remember that one meme of a person holding up a sign that says, "My expectations for you were low but holy fuck” or something along those lines?  That meme best describes my experience with "In the Lost Lands", a murky and painfully tedious imitation of past epic fantasy films that failed to meet even the lowest expectations.  Regarding Dave Bautista's involvement, the fast-paced action, and the source material's religious undertones and world-building, this film should've been another piece of crowd-pleasing entertainment.  Instead, it became something that would be better off as a streaming movie.  To give Paul W. S. Anderson the benefit of the doubt, he was responsible for providing us with some cheesy guilty pleasures in the '90s and 2000s, including "Mortal Kombat" and "Resident Evil", especially with his approach to the fast-paced action and stylized presentation.  Unfortunately, he seemed to have lost that appeal afterward, giving us miss after miss after miss.  I hold no grudge against the filmmaker for doing his job, but at the same time, I feel that Anderson may have been past his own prime unless he finds his "corny fun" groove again.

"In the Lost Lands" serves as yet another addition to Anderson's losing streak, mainly regarding his direction.  If you've seen Anderson's other films like "Resident Evil" and "Death Race", you'll know what to expect from his style.  It's swift in the action and editing, stylized in the framework, and visually busy in the production designs.  He's like Zack Snyder but with a B-movie-like essence.  That being said, it's not just about the directorial vision that makes a movie watchable, it's also the storytelling and whether it's worthy of fighting alongside its presentation.  While I can see the potential in its style and action, they were sadly bogged down by Anderson's inability to combine them with his characters and narrative.  It's like he's taking the visionary efforts of Zack Snyder, Robert Rodriguez, and Denis Villeneuve and rolling them up into one big lump of dough, hoping it'll become a tasty epic fantasy bread.  Instead, we got a messy, visually ugly, and pale copy of other films from the same genre.  Even the action scenes, while rapid and stylized, lacked any sense of fun and urgency due to the film's serious and uncharismatic tone, weak suspense, and choppy editing.  As for the visual effects, they certainly have an essence needed to provide a nightmarish fantasy akin to "Mad Max" and "Resident Evil", but as mentioned earlier, they wind up resembling something more displeasing than appealing.  The CGI looked fine, but the lighting effects were an absolute eyesore, especially during the daytime scenes, adding to the settings' faux and unappealing appearances.  Seriously, the sight of the color saturation made my eyes strain a bit.  Anderson has provided us with some bad yet watchable guilty pleasures over the years, even when he doesn't intend to, so it's unfortunate he couldn't offer the same aspect for "In the Lost Lands".

Its screenplay by Constantin Werner was also the reason for the movie's failure, providing similar themes and elements that were done better in other films.  The script provided audiences with its protagonist, Gray Alys, who is haunted by her loneliness due to her cursed abilities making her an outsider, with no one she can trust but herself.  Hunted down by a corrupt religious group, Gray sees herself facing that trauma when she teams up with Boyce, who may be seen as the only cure for her isolation.  While familiar in personality, Gray's quest would've served as a suitable reflection of hope and trust in a land filled with despair, corruption, and discrimination.  Unfortunately, it failed to deliver that type of sentimental momentum in its iffy dialogue, forgettable characters, and bland world-building to compensate for its tedious and repetitive plot elements.  Regarding the characters' journey through the "Lost Lands", this could've been structured better as a limited series to branch out its lore further.  Its 100-minute runtime isn't enough to manifest this type of society, but at the same time, it's also a bit too much for its insipid tone and repetitive structure.

But what about the actors themselves?  Surely, they have enough star power in their performances to carry this lackluster fantasy excursion, right?  Well, not exactly.  Like the film's tone, the cast's performances lacked much pizazz and interest to inject life into their one-dimensional characters, including Milla Jovovich as Gray Alys.  She may be a badass in the "Resident Evil" movies, but that doesn't make her a great actress, in my opinion.  Her performance resembled Gray's mysterious persona and formidable presence to a tee.  Sadly, she didn't provide enough oomph for her acting talents and Gray's charisma to put this witch at the same level of appeasement as Alice.  I would also point out that Dave Bautista didn't impress me that much in his role of Boyce.  I assumed that Boyce would be another rough and tough character with a hint of charm hidden inside their personality, but that didn't appear to be the case, as there was none of that…at all.  It's a shame, too, especially considering how much I enjoyed Bautista's charismatic presence in his previous movies.  Arly Jover and Amara Okereke were also pretty tame as Ash and the queen, respectively.

Overall, "In the Lost Lands" got too lost in its visually murky and soulless imitation of previous epic fantasy films to escape its narrative wasteland alive.  Regarding Paul W. S. Anderson's works, this should've been another "so bad, it's good" type of film, whose lackluster quality makes for an enjoyable experience with friends while drunk.  What we got instead is something that's better described as "so bad, it's boring".  It's not boring in a humorous way.  It's boring in a way that makes me want to watch something else instead as if it doesn't put much effort into making the characters and story more interesting to warrant my full attention.  While the presentation isn't without its moments of style, they're not enough to overshadow its uncharismatic cast, dull direction, mediocre screenplay, and unappealing visuals, mainly the color saturation.  Out of the films I've seen from Anderson, I have to say that this is the poorest level of effort I've seen from the filmmaker so far, which is enough to be concerned about his upcoming film adaptation of "The House of the Dead".  If you're still curious about this one, I recommend you wait until it's on streaming for free, especially if you're a fan of Dave Bautista. ​

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