4/10 STARS - In the Lost Lands is based on a George R R Martin short story of the same name from 1982. Milla Jovovich stars as Gray Alys, a witch who has to grant the wish of everyone who comes to her, even though granting those wishes has unintended consequences for those who ask. She is sent by the queen to the Lost Lands to obtain the power of turning into a werewolf. Before embarking on her journey, Alys enlists the aid of a mysterious hunter named Boyce, played by Dave Bautista. Unfortunately, Milla Jovovich doesn't have the best track record for starring in quality films and In the Lost Lands is no exception. There were some things I did like about this movie: the cinematography felt like something that came from the pages of a graphic novel, similar in some ways to a film like Sin City. And the framework of the story itself is actually pretty solid. The issues are largely in the execution of the story, which probably would have been much better served as a limited series type of production for a streaming platform. Given the vastness of the world, the various characters involved, as well as the political and religious issues at play in the background, a film of an hour and 41 minutes doesn't give it enough space to make it feel fully fleshed out and satisfying, reducing most of the characters to almost clownish figures -- hollow shells of what could have been more interesting depictions. And with a rather hefty budget of more than 55 million, this film will have an uphill battle just to break even.
