Cowboys and witches and werewolves, oh my! The most unsung cinematic master on the planet, the great director Paul W.S. Anderson, strikes a new high water mark in the spectacular apocalyptic fantasy western In The Lost Lands. Based on the short story by George R.R. Martin, the screenplay was written by Constantin Werner from the story adaptation by Anderson and Werner. In a far-off post-nuclear holocaust future, gunslinger Boyce (Dave Bautista) offers to tell the audience a story if we have the time and the stomach for it.
We then jump to the infamous witch Gray Alys (Milla Jovovich) teetering on the end of a noose in front of a crowd. The Enforcer (Arly Jover) is hanging her for heresy, as all who use witchcraft or consort with witches are “of the devil and sentenced to death,” as decreed by the Patriarch (Fraser James). As the throngs of sullen, enslaved subjects look on, the clever witch uses her spellcraft to escape, leaving a trail of blood in her wake.
Later, in her sanctum, Gray Alys is visited by the Queen (Amara Okereke), who wishes to hire her for an unusual task. The Queen wishes to attain the powers of shape-shifting so that she may transform into a wolf. The only way to achieve this power is to venture outside the city walls and go deep into the lawless lost lands. Alongside her guide, Boyce, the witch heads out into the ruins of the blighted landscape, trekking to Skull River to find a shapeshifter. But they are being followed by a dark spiked train, filled with the Enforcer’s fanatics on a crusade to trap, torture, and execute the duo.
“Alongside her guide, Boyce, the witch heads out into the ruins of the blighted landscape, trekking to Skull River to find a shapeshifter.”
Anderson’s work is typically full of eye-watering unreal vistas and epic ultra-stylized violence that makes popcorn butter glow in the dark. Admittedly, the filmmaker has a weakness for concrete color palettes that overtook some of his productions with the gray dreariness of prison architecture. With that in mind, In The Lost Lands is one of his most accomplished works yet. The Blade Runner influence runs strong here, as exemplified by the appearance of a neck tattoo of a paper-folded unicorn. There is also a lot of high-powered imagery reminiscent of classic rock album art. There is a scene set under a wrecked overpass that looks like the gatefold of Kansas’s Monolith, while the crazy train looks like Motorhead’s Orgasmatron. Anderson pulls off so much exquisite desolation here, with more beautiful details of broken civilizations than all the Mad Max movies put together. Instead of being stuck in a dull color quicksand, the director fully harnesses the power of low light with washed-out sepia tones to the point of monochrome. This has to be seen on as big a screen as possible, as Anderson knows how to make seismic spectacles that fill every inch of the frame.
The blender of supposedly incompatible film genres tastes freaking great, building a unique world full of incredible details that you will want to visit again to get a closer look at. The pacing is relentless, maintaining a marked momentum in tune with cuts to a steampunk moon-tracking contraption. The fight sequences are approached like high art, as Anderson has continued further down that path than John Woo. Jovovich is excellent as always, as she is the least corny action hero we have. Even when she isn’t killing people, her performance power spikes higher than wasteland radiation. You have to love the idea of a cowboy and a witch heading off to find a werewolf. With In The Lost Lands, auteur Anderson paints with the most delicious desolation imaginable, all to his trademark throbbing soundtrack beats. This is high-octane fun that you would do well to check out in theaters.
"…high-octane fun..."
