Snoozesome journey into the jungle
Nor would you suspect that Fawcett’s son Jack (Tom Holland) hoped to become a movie star. In other words, though he set off with his dad for South America in 1925, the real Jack loved glamour and fame and did not want to end his days in the jungle.
Jack’s fate should be hugely distressing or, at the very least, disturbing. Instead, because The Lost City of Z insists that Percy is a romantic hero, the kind of guy who’s able to look beyond conventional notions of family (we get euphoric Kipling quotes, plus a fortune teller crooning that the jungle is Fawcett’s destiny), viewers are more likely to think, “What an honour for Jack to be included in his dad’s big adventure!”
Director/writer James Gray does get a few things right. Miller’s Nina, left behind in sepulchral England, snags a few memorable scenes. So does Angus Macfadyen as wealthy businessman James Murray, who not only helped fund Fawcett’s 1916 expedition but joined it. Those planning missions to the moon with excitable billionaires should take note: individuals in possession of vast fortunes don’t always overflow with team spirit. Murray, round and juicy as a grub, proves jawdroppingly spiteful.
But it’s not enough. Contrast this film with last year’s Embrace of the Serpent, a mind-expanding drama about existentially confused explorers. Though brand new, The Lost City of Z already feels out of date.