In the Lost Lands

In the Lost Lands" is not just a bad movie-it's a masterclass in how to take an intriguing concept and strip it of anything remotely compelling. Paul W. S. Anderson, the king of soulless adaptations, once again proves that he can turn even rich source material into a dull, lifeless, CGI-infested wasteland. This so-called "dark fantasy epic" feels more like a two-hour endurance test, complete with cringe-worthy dialogue, terrible pacing, and a story that stumbles over itself before falling flat on its face.

Milla Jovovich, ever loyal to her director husband, sleepwalks through the role of Gray Alys, a "powerful" witch who does absolutely nothing of consequence. Dave Bautista's Boyce is reduced to a grunting sidekick whose only personality trait is looking annoyed. Arly Jover's villain, Ash, is as generic as they come-another discount "mysterious antagonist" who seems to exist solely because the film needs a bad guy.

Visually, it's an absolute mess. The CGI looks cheap, the sets are empty and lifeless, and the action sequences-supposedly a highlight-are choppy, weightless, and completely devoid of impact. The editing is so erratic that it feels like the movie was pieced together by someone who had never seen a film before. The color grading makes everything look like it was shot through a dirty fish tank, and the soundtrack is as forgettable as the script itself.

The biggest crime of In the Lost Lands is that it's boring. There's no tension, no stakes, and no reason to care. It pretends to have deep lore but refuses to develop it, instead throwing vague fantasy jargon at the audience and hoping it sticks. Even George R. R. Martin's weak endorsement-saying it "captured his voice better than other adaptations"-feels more like a desperate attempt to salvage its reputation than genuine praise.

By the time the credits roll, the only real mystery is how this ever got made. A movie with this much potential should not be this awful. In the Lost Lands is a soulless, plodding, incoherent disaster that even the most forgiving fantasy fans should avoid at all costs. If you're looking for a dark fantasy adventure, watch literally anything else."

I knew going into this it was going to be bad. I love this type of theme but they always seem to screw it up with bad writing. Id love to finally see a good movie with this type of setting. I will say part of it I was entertained. Action, relationships, some twists and turns. When we left the theater, multiple people mentioned it didn't make sense. While it did to me, I get that viewpoint. Because it was weak when they were trying to be creative. It's a sleeper, and i don't suggest people use their hard earned money to see this. While it was beautiful and you could see they put in a lot of work, it just came out super flat with the story.

Watched at AMC on 3-6-2025.

4/10 STARS - In the Lost Lands is based on a George R R Martin short story of the same name from 1982. Milla Jovovich stars as Gray Alys, a witch who has to grant the wish of everyone who comes to her, even though granting those wishes has unintended consequences for those who ask. She is sent by the queen to the Lost Lands to obtain the power of turning into a werewolf. Before embarking on her journey, Alys enlists the aid of a mysterious hunter named Boyce, played by Dave Bautista. Unfortunately, Milla Jovovich doesn't have the best track record for starring in quality films and In the Lost Lands is no exception. There were some things I did like about this movie: the cinematography felt like something that came from the pages of a graphic novel, similar in some ways to a film like Sin City. And the framework of the story itself is actually pretty solid. The issues are largely in the execution of the story, which probably would have been much better served as a limited series type of production for a streaming platform. Given the vastness of the world, the various characters involved, as well as the political and religious issues at play in the background, a film of an hour and 41 minutes doesn't give it enough space to make it feel fully fleshed out and satisfying, reducing most of the characters to almost clownish figures -- hollow shells of what could have been more interesting depictions. And with a rather hefty budget of more than 55 million, this film will have an uphill battle just to break even.

Watching this movie with no sound would probably make it a better experience, as most of the visuals are striking and quite beautiful. The cinematography, the production design, the palette choices, the use of light and shadow are all great.

But the story is incredibly boring and nonsensical. The dialogue sounds like it was generated by a poorly coded AI. And all of the actors - including Bautista and Jovovich, both talented, charismatic performers - are reduced to delivering their lines as if the director asked them to intentionally sound wooden and forced, almost like a parody of a fantasy movie, but an unfunny, slog of a parody.

I would have walked out of this - a thing I have only done in the middle of only one other movie my life (the last "Terrifier") - if it were not for the fact that my wife fell asleep after the first act, and I didn't want to wake her up.

I would recommend that no one waste their time with this movie. If you're interested in the visuals, when it's streaming maybe play it in the background with the sound muted while you're listening to your favorite audio podcast.

I had not watched anything from this 2025 movie prior to sitting down to watch it. But I figured that there was potential here, as it was starring Milla Jovovich. And I have to admit that the premise of a post-apocalyptic setting did seem mighty alluring.

But what director Paul W. S. Anderson delivered here was essentially just another "Resident Evil" movie, just without the T-Virus and the zombies. Or at least that the sensation and vibe I was getting from the movie, as the story unfolded and we got to know the characters. Yeah, Gray Alys (as Milla Jovovich's character was named in this movie) was essentially just a variant of the Alice character from the "Resident Evil" movies. Except for being a clone, she was a witch with magical powers, but the same fighting skills and also using the same weaponry.

The storyline in "In the Lost Lands" was pretty straightforward, although a bit of a strange mixture of many different genres scrambled into one. Sure, it was watchable and entertaining enough for the mindless action fantasy that it turned out to be, but don't get your hopes up for a stellar storytelling event here. I have not read the short story, from writer George R. R. Martin, that this movie was based upon, so I don't know how true screenwriters Constantin Werner and Paul W. S. Anderson were to the source material.

The acting performances in the movie were fair enough taking into consideration the material they had to work with. The movie does have some familiar faces on the cast list, with the likes of Milla Jovovich, Dave Bautista and Fraser James. Fraser James really stood out in the movie with his performance as The Patriarch. I am by no means a fan of Dave Bautista, and "In the Lost Land" didn't convince me otherwise.

What worked out the most in "In the Lost Lands" was the special effects. The CGI effects looks good and there were some nice creature designs, and the props and wardrobe departments definitely worked their magic quite well.

This movie is an odd mixture of multiple genres, and thus it was a little bit hard to fully get submerged into. But it proved to be fair enough entertainment for the mindless action that it was.

My rating of director Paul W. S. Anderson's 2025 movie "In the Lost Lands" lands on a five out of ten stars.