In The Lost Lands

Thanks to the success of Game Of Thrones, there is a significant number of people out there whose ears will perk up at the mention of anything by George RR Martin. And well they might, because some of his best work is in his short stories and as yet unadapted for the screen. Of course, it’s the quality of the adaptation that really matters. His complex, frequently compromised characters need to be understood to be interpreted effectively. A real investment is needed from screenwriters and actors alike. Otherwise it’s just a lot of running about, shouting and hitting things.

In The Lost Lands is a film of the running about, shouting and hitting things variety.

That said, is those are the things you have to work with, and if you are subject to strict budgetary limitations, Milla Jovovich and Dave Bautista are two of the better options for you to run with. They’re not known for depth of subtlety of performance (Jovovich has done some decent work in her time, but that time was a while ago), but they can both deliver when it comes to action. Furthermore, they’re both used to working with this sort of material, with its strictly delineated action set pieces heavily inspired by videogame cut scenes; with its gimmicks and its signature moves. They are in their element.

Jovovich, whose face has grown more interesting with age even as her voice has faded, plays Gray Alys, a witch suffering under a curse which obliges her to fulfil wishes, though not necessarily in a way that makes the wishers happy. A popular figure with rebellious elements in the last city to have survived the apocalypse, she is seen as a threat to those in power and is persecuted by the church. Nevertheless, there comes a day when the Queen (Amara Okereke) asks a favour of her, and in order to fulfil it she must venture into the still more dangerous place from whence she came: the Lost Lands. In want of a guide, she recruits hunter Boyce (Bautista) to accompany her.

Naturally, there are perils along the way. As is usual in these tales, their initial purely professional relationship gradually morphs into something warmer, despite the fact that he seems to have a girl in every port whilst she has a tendency to cut throats first and ask questions later. Both have secrets, however, and ultimately the monsters they encounter may be less dangerous than these.

There are deliberate nods to Game Of Thrones in the design of the opening credits and aspects of the sets. Fans will smile at the appearance of Martin’s wonderful maps with their fantastic locations; in the tradition of genre writers like Moorcock and Silverberg, he has no fear of excess, but rather relishes it. There’s a train track here which does some absurd things, a ruined cooling tower which has become a nest to skeletal creatures, and, for no discernable reason, an extensive area of riverbed covered in skulls, all their usual accoutrements absent. If you’re expected to do gratuitous things, why not indulge?

CGI rendering, sadly, leaves all of this a bit lifeless, and the more so because practically everything is rendered in shades of brown. Whilst it’s a relief to get away from the tedious blue-grey filters of the past three decades – not to mention their dread companion, orange – there is ultimately only so much brown that most of us can take before it gets depressing. It also adds to the impression that one is watching somebody else play a video game. When we finally get the big boss fight, there’s the whole slow motion as characters leap at each other in the air thing, the works, and it feels very Nineties. This may have been fashionable back when director Paul WS Anderson started out, but there will be kids watching this whose parents weren’t born then, and it’s time to move on.

If all you’re after is monsters, chases, CGI explosions, fighting and two popular action stars (who do get an opportunity to fight each other, never fear), then this may well work for you – just don’t expect it to be done especially well. It’s still way better than a lot of what’s out there. Sadly, one only gets a hint of what makes Martin’s characters interesting, but that’s a good excuse to go and do some reading. You’ll find this one in a couple of anthologies. For newcomers, the collection Dreamsongs: A RRetrospective is a great place to start.

Reviewed on: 10 Jun 2025