Paul W. S. Anderson’s latest epic fantasy film In the Lost Lands has debuted to a dismal Rotten Tomatoes score. The movie, loosely based on the short story of the same name by George R. R. Martin, follows a powerful witch partnering with a mysterious hunter to travel to a dangerous land in search of an artifact for a queen. In the Lost Lands stars Anderson’s wife and long-time collaborator Milla Jovovich, as well as Dave Bautista and Amara Okereke, and is produced by Anderson, Jovovich, and Bautista.

The movie has posted a dismal debut score on review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes, with a 21% Tomatometer at the time of writing from 14 critic reviews. The movie is yet to receive a Popcornmeter rating from audiences, but will release in theaters tomorrow, which will see reviews start to flow in. The film’s dismal critical score continues an extraordinary Rotten Tomatoes streak for Anderson, who has now posted 13 consecutive “Rotten” rated movies (as director) on the site since 1995’s Mortal Kombat.

What This Means For In The Lost Lands

The Movie Suffers From A Convoluted Plot & Too Many Big Ideas

Screen Rant‘s review of In the Lost Lands illustrates a lot of what is wrong with the movie stating “In the Lost Lands feels like someone tried to condense a multi-episode miniseries into a feature film, racing from plot point to plot point.” The movie feels like it tries to pack far too much into its runtime, and is full of clunky exposition, and a lot of half-baked concepts. Although the source material is a short story, and they can be challenging to adapt and develop successfully, the movie struggles tonally with the story it is trying to tell.

While there is time for the ratings and reviews to improve and pick up, there is also time for them to get worse. With In The Lost Lands’ theatrical release imminent, there could be a dire audience score to accompany the critics’ one. Furthermore, with a production budget of more than $50 million, it feels unlikely the movie is going to turn a strong profit, and it might eventually wind up being better received when it finally moves to streaming platforms.

Our Verdict On In The Lost Lands’ Critical Mauling

The Movie Could Have Worked Better As A TV Show

Anderson has never been a director heavy on narrative structure and character arcs, but even his trademark high-octane action and quick-cut editing can’t seemingly save the film. Then there is the matter of the genre that requires strong world-building, and In the Lost Lands tries to condense too much into its short run-time, resulting in a confused mess. It would probably have functioned better as a limited TV series, which would have allowed for multiple plot points and character arcs, and could have seen In The Lost Lands become another successful post-Game of Thrones adaptation for Martin.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes