THE LOST CITY OF Z Review

The Lost City of Z is a twenty year epic that essentially chronicles the fine line between ambition and irresponsibility. It's an illustration of how one must gauge the ramifications of their actions in the long run to better determine that present decision. In The Lost City of Z we are told the story of Percy Fawcett (Charlie Hunnam) a man who became obsessed with finding what no one around him believed could be true. It wasn't always the driving force in his life, when we meet Fawcett he is simply looking to restore the respect of his name, but as his life evolves and opportunities arise he develops a need or more, the ambition, to discover the unknown that he knows is out there. Even as his wife (a wonderful Sienna Miller) waits at home for him raising what amounts to be their three children. Fawcett is gone for years at a time when on his expeditions and given those twenty years take place between 1905 and 1925 his younger children often forget who he is by the time he returns. The questions Fawcett eventually has to come to terms with are those of if the lost years with his children and wife were worth what was on the other side of the world? It would seem, as the movie tells it, that they were. That there was no letting go of this need to know the unknown and that even if he had done so in favor of remaining with his family for the rest of his days that those final days would have undoubtedly been tinged with regret. It's a difficult position to be in emotionally; knowing you should likely do one thing in favor of the other, but realizing that itch is never going to go way until you scratch it. As a film, this is the angle director James Gray takes in choosing to convey the story of Percy Fawcett. A true story of a man who displays fearlessness from the beginning, a selfishness necessary to leave a certain type of legacy, and a mentality that fully surrenders to the idea that death is the best sauce for life. This may all sound beyond enticing and rather mysterious, but The Lost City of Z is a rather straight-forward and old fashioned adventure movie that delivers its ruminations in subtle enough fashion that an impression is left even if the adventures themselves aren't as grand as one might imagine if they know Fawcett's story before going into the film.

Teaser Trailer for THE LOST CITY OF Z

I can understand why Mark Wahlberg may not be in writer/director James Gray's latest given he's been a little pre-occuppied with the likes of Peter Berg and Michael Bay, but it seems curious Joaquin Phoenix isn't anywhere to be seen in this first look at the filmmakers latest effort. I wondered if he may have just had time for a smaller role and so I checked the cast list in iMDB, but nothing. It seems Gray has traded in his usual collaborators for younger, more "of the moment" talent as The Lost City of Z not only stars Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy, King Arthur), but also Robert Pattinson (The Twilight Series, Rover) as well as our latest Spider-Man actor in Tom Holland. So, what is it that attracted such talent one might ask? Well, apparently the story is based on a true tale of a British military man, Percy Fawcett, (Hunnam) who becomes an explorer in search of a lost city in the Amazon. The facts of the case are that Fawcett, along with his eldest son, disappeared under unknown circumstances in 1925 during an expedition to find "Z" – the name he gave to an ancient lost city, which he and others believed to be El Dorado. The story is certainly engaging and the more interesting facet is that Gray, as a writer, could essentially invent his preferred ending as there is no concrete evidence supporting any one theory about what actually happened to Fawcett and the two men traveling with him. What direction Gray will choose to go will be one of great interest leading up to the films Spring release date, but if the story of Fawcett isn't exactly stated in this "first-look" teaser it at least sets a very specific tone and mood for what we'll be getting. Regardless of whether Gray decides to take a more realistic approach or indulge the mythos of Fawcett with what we might all hope he actually encountered should ultimately be besides the point as what will be more fascinating to see is how Hunnam handles a descent into madness. The Lost City of Z also stars Sienna Miller, Angus Macfadyen, Daniel Huttlestone, Aleksandar Jovanovic, Edward Ashleym, and opens on April 21st 2017.