Film Review: The Lost City Of Z

Genre: Action, Adventure, Biography

Cert: 15 cert

Director: James Gray

Screen writer: (written for the screen by) James Gray,  (based on the book by) David Grann

Starring: Charlie Hunnam , Robert Pattinson , Sienna Miller , Tom Holland , Edward Ashley , Angus Macfadyen , Ian McDiarmid , Clive Francis , Pedro Coello , Matthew Sunderland , Johann Myers , Aleksandar Jovanovic , Elena Solovey, Bobby Smalldridge , Tom Mulheron 

Running time: 2h 21min

Parents advised to read before viewing film as some scene may contain scenes unsuitable for younger viewers.

Sex & Nudity: This film does contain nudity of a tribal nature.

Violence & Gore: There are scene through the film of war and scene of violence in the jungle. So expect so bloody scenes

Profanity: Strong language frequent use of the word savages   

Alcohol/Drugs/Smoking: Main characters are seen drinking

Frightening/Intense Scenes: Most of the scene are not suitable for anyone under 15, due to the nature of tribal

Story: The Lost City of Z tells the incredible true story of British explorer Percy Fawcett, who journeys into the Amazon at the dawn of the 20th century and discovers evidence of a previously unknown, advanced civilization that may have once inhabited the region. Despite being ridiculed by the scientific establishment who regard indigenous populations as "savages," the determined Fawcett - supported by his devoted wife, son and aide de camp returns time and again to his beloved jungle in an attempt to prove his case, culminating in his mysterious disappearance in 1925.

Likes : Story: The Lost City of Z tells the incredible true story of British explorer Percy Fawcett, who journeys into the Amazon at the dawn of the 20th century and discovers evidence of a previously unknown, advanced civilization that may have once inhabited the region. Despite being ridiculed by the scientific establishment who regard indigenous populations as "savages," the determined Fawcett- supported by his devoted wife, son and aide de camp- returns time and again to his beloved jungle in an attempt to prove his case, culminating in his mysterious disappearance in 1925.

Likes : Percy Fawcett (portrayed by Charlie Hunnam Oscar winner performance) was born on 18 August 1867 in Torquay, Devon, England, to Edward Boyd Fawcett and Myra Elizabeth (née MacDougall). He received his education at Newton Abbot Proprietary College along with Bertram Fletcher Robinson.

Percy Fawcett's India-born father was a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (RGS). His elder brother Edward Douglas Fawcett (1866–1960) was a mountain climber, Eastern occultist and author of philosophical books and popular adventure novels. Fawcett attended the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, as a cadet, being commissioned as a lieutenant in the Royal Artillery on 24 July 1886. On 13 January 1896 he was appointed adjutant of the 1st Cornwall (Duke of Cornwall's) Artillery Volunteers, and was promoted to captain on 15 June 1897.

He later served in Trincomalee, Ceylon, where he also met his future wife. He married Nina Agnes Paterson in January 1901 after having previously ended their engagement. They had two sons, Jack (born 1903) and Brian (1906–1984). He joined the RGS himself in 1901 in order to study surveying and map-making.

Later, he worked for the British Secret Service in North Africa while pursuing the surveyor's craft. He served for the war office on Spike Island, County Cork from 1903 to 1906, where he was promoted to major on 11 January 1905.He became friends with authors H. Rider Haggard and Arthur Conan Doyle; the latter used Fawcett's Amazonian field reports as an inspiration for his novel, The Lost World.

This film portrays his story and journey to find the lost city of “Z”, sacrificing everything in his obsession to find it. The only reason why this story isn't really told much is because, in the times of Percy Fawcett, if your family did something “wrong”, you would be shunned; which, sadly, his father did.

Despite Percy Fawcett’s efforts during war times, this society treated him like an outcast, which is perfectly shown in the film. What this film also does is cover a large area of his life, his motivations, and showed the decline of the derring-do of the British Empire, with special attention being paid to this particular type of hero from those times.

What’s great about this film is that it shows a perfect respect for the cultures he found in the Amazon; nothing felt off at all, the scenes were done with real tribes, and their culture was respected, and I feel the director did a great job here.

The acting performances in this film are Oscar-winning, especially with the way Charlie Hunnam portrayed the character, showing his prowess as an actor. Sienna Miller’s brilliant performance as Nina Fawcett was just as noteworthy; their performances brought to life a family struggling with sacrifice as her husband ventures out into one of the most dangerous places on earth, not knowing if he will return. This is portrayed throughout film perfectly.

I didn’t recognize Robert Pattinson at first, with the beard and glasses, portraying the character Henry Gilbert Costin, who was born June 15, 1898 and died October 8, 1918. He was a private in the United States Army who received the Medal of Honor for his actions in World War I near Bois–de–Consenvoye, France during the Meuse–Argonne Offensive; but this was not the focus of his role.

Henry Gilbert Costin accompanied Percy Fawcett several times to the Amazon and Robert Pattinson puts a great performance in as a side character. A lot of this film is an all star cast with Ian McDiarmid (Darth Sidious, Star Wars Episodes 1-3, 5 and 6) and Angus Macfadyen (Robert Bruce, Braveheart) putting in great performances as well that make this film great to watch.

The cinematography throughout this film is great in showing the Amazon Jungle and its tribal culture, especially since this adventure feels like that of an old 50's style journey into the unknown; it is surely targeted for a certain demographic, and not all audiences will like this film.

Questions for the audiences that have see this film: What did you think of the way the story was portrayed? Do you feel the story could've done with more action, or do you feel the story was perfect as it was? Let us know what you think of the film.      

Dislikes : The only thing about this film which won't appeal to everyone is its pacing; the film is very slow, telling of his life as a biography. You can expect this, but I do feel it could've been a little bit faster.  

Overall : Great adventure film, Perfect performance, Great culture respect of the Amazon.

Rating: 4.3 out of 5 for entertainment / 7.7 out of 10 for biography