A mix of comedy, romance and adventure, 2022’s The Lost City conjured inevitable comparisons with 1984’s similarly themed Romancing the Stone. However, that didn’t inevitably make City inferior, so I figured it merited a look.

After the death of her husband, famous romance novelist Loretta Safe (Sandra Bullock) hides from the world. When her publisher Beth Hatten (Da'Vine Joy Randolph) finally gets her to put out a new book and go on a publicity tour.

When eccentric mogul Abigail Fairfax (Daniel Radcliffe) abducts Loretta and forces her to help pursue a potentially mythical item, dim-witted cover model Alan Caprison decides to prove his worth as more than just a pretty face and save her, a choice that leads the pair on an exotic adventure.

When I go to a movie like City, I don’t ask much. Give me a little lively action, some soft comedy and touch of romance and I’m on board.

As I entered City, I enjoyed every reason to believe it would live up to these modest expectations. With a derivative but fun premise and a strong cast, what could go wrong?

Pretty much everything, as it happens. Though not utterly devoid of pleasures, City turns into a shockingly flat and dull ride most of the time.

On the surface, City comes with all the ingredients it needs for a vivid mix of action, comedy and romance. So why does it fail in terms of execution?

That becomes a good question, one I can’t answer fully. However, the almost complete lack of chemistry between Bullock and Tatum certainly acts as a major issue.

It seems hard to find two more inherently likable actors than Bullock and Tatum, as both offer consistently engaging personalities across their many films. For whatever reason, unfortunately, they don’t click.

Given that so much of City relies on their connection, this creates obvious problems. When we don’t buy the romantic zing between the two leads, the movie inevitably will falter.

Neither Tatum nor Bullock flops in their parts, though both seem miscast – especially Tatum. Part of his charm as a comedic actor comes from the contrast between his Greek god body and the often bumbling personality he usually portrays in funny movies.

This doesn’t work for his role as Alan, mainly because it feels like that character should seem more arrogant than he does. When we meet Alan, the film introduces him as the man who demands the spotlight and wants constant adoration.

The story quickly abandons Overly Self-Confident Alan and sticks us with Neurotic and Insecure Alan, which doesn’t really fit the character logically. He wants to become the action hero he represents on book covers, so he should show too much belief in himself, whereas the role as portrayed seems the opposite.

Perhaps the script wrote Alan in the overbearing manner that makes more sense but Tatum simply didn’t want to play him that way. Whatever the case, Tatum’s performance doesn’t succeed.

Bullock basically plays Loretta as the Stock Sandra Bullock character, though perhaps a little more withdrawn than usual since we first encounter the novelist as a depressed shut-in. However, Bullock won’t go there all the way, so she gives Loretta too much comedic spunk from the get-go and subverts any real dimensionality in the part.

Maybe I shouldn’t fault the actors, as it seems obvious that directors Aaron and Adam Nee don’t ever want City to become a Downer Movie. Even when the story explores Loretta’s grief and depression, it stays light and jaunty, as the tale’s darker moments employ wisecracks and oddly perky score.

City hardly ever paints anything as serious, and that turns into a problem. Granted, I acknowledge that the film exists as a light mix of comedy, action and romance, so one shouldn’t anticipate a grim character tale.

However, if the filmmakers just wanted to make City fluffy entertainment, then why bother with these serious topics at all? It makes little sense, as the story easily would work without the level of somber material on display.

Really, this bizarre tone carries through the whole movie and damages it. One protagonist gets shot in a shockingly graphic way, but the movie still wants to play it for laughs.

There are many ways films can paint violence for comedic purposes. Heck, even someone getting shot in the head can work if part of a black comedy, such as when Marvin finds himself sans face in Pulp Fiction.

But City portrays itself as a “PG-13” rom-com, not an “R”-rated gritty dark comedy. When a character receives a blood-and-brain-splattering bullet to the head here, it becomes awfully tough to yuk it up.

Even without these weird tonal issues, City falters just because it never threatens to become fun. Whereas we need a light, lively adventure, the narrative feels slow and leaden, without much that takes advantage of the possibilities.

All of this adds up to a disappointment. While I didn’t expect greatness from The Lost City, I figured it’d provide a breezy 112 minutes of escapist entertainment. Instead, I got a sluggish, dull dud.

Footnote: a tag scene appears a little into the end credits. Nothing additional shows up after that, though.

The Lost City appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.35:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This became a terrific Dolby Vision presentation.

Overall definition looked good. Virtually no softness materialized, so the film appeared accurate and concise. The image felt precise and captured details well.

I noticed no jagged edges or moiré effects, and edge haloes stayed absent. No print flaws cropped up either.

For the palette of City, amber/orange dominated, with some jungle greens and other hues as well. The disc made the hues look solid, especially via the added boost the HDR gave to the tones.

Blacks were dark and deep, and low-light shots showed good clarity and smoothness. As with the colors, the disc’s HDR brought extra power to these areas, and whites looked bright. I felt pleased with this fine image.

Downconverted to Dolby TrueHD 7.1, the film’s Dolby Atmos opened up pretty well. Though the film didn’t include as many slam-bang set pieces as a typical action flick, it brought out some good sequences.

When the track needed to expand during violent elements and the like, it used the full spectrum well. Elements were properly placed and moved about the setting in a convincing way.

The surrounds contributed a nice sense of space and involvement. Music depicted positive stereo imaging and the entire presentation offered a good feeling of environment.

Audio quality fared well. Speech was accurate and distinctive, without notable edginess or other issues. Music sounded full-blooded and rich, as the score was rendered nicely.

Effects showed good range and definition. They demonstrated solid low-end and were impressive across the board. Ultimately, this was a positive track.

Seven featurettes appear, and we open with Dynamic Duo. It goes for four minutes, 42 seconds and involves writers/directors Aaron and Adam Nee, and actors Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum,

“Duo” looks at the lead actors and their cinematic relationship. It offers a few minor insights but mostly brings fluff.

Location Profile fills seven minutes, nine seconds with notes from Adam Nee, Tatum, Bullock, Aaron Nee, 1st AD Charlie Endean, supervising location manager Marco Giacalone, production designer Jim Bissell, and actor Hector Anibal, Daniel Radcliffe, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, and Thomas Forbes-Johnson.

Here we learn about the movie’s various locations. It mixes useful content and happy talk.

Next comes Jungle Rescue, a six-minute, 25-second reel with Aaron Nee, Adam Nee, Endean, Forbes-Johnson, Bullock, SPFX supervisor Eric Frazier, stunt coordinator Kyle Woods, and actor Sli Lewis

“Rescue” examines various stunt/action elements. It comes with some worthwhile material as well as the usual praise.

The Jumpsuit goes for three minutes, 41 seconds and involves Bullock, Adam Nee, producer Liza Chasin, and costume designer Marlene Stewart.

As expected, the featurette discusses the Loretta’s main costume. It becomes a decent view of the topic.

Charcuterie occupies three minutes, 32 seconds and offers info from Nee, Adam Nee, Radcliffe, property master Chris Ubick and SPFX onset coordinator Craig Barnett.

The show gives us a view of one aspect of a particular scene. It becomes a surprisingly interesting look at an unusual topic.

After this we find The Villains of The Lost City. It lasts five minutes, 29 seconds and includes Aaron Nee, Adam Nee, Radcliffe, Anibal, and Forbes-Johnson.

Unsurprisingly, “Villains” looks at characters and cast. It becomes another blend of insights and fluff.

Finally, Builing The Lost City runs seven minutes, 23 seconds and features Aaron Nee, Bissell, and set decorator Karen Frick.

This one looks at sets and production design. It offers the usual combination of facts and puffy remarks.

Eight Deleted Scenes span a total of eight minutes, 52 seconds. These tend toward a little comedy and some added character beats/exposition.

None of them seem memorable, but they tend to add some value. We also find what appears to be an alternate “credit sequence tag” that brought back a “dead” character.

We wrap with five minutes, 33 seconds of Bloopers. We mostly find some of the usual goofs/giggles, but some alternate lines add value.

Combine a strong cast with a fun premise and The Lost City should deliver a delightful cinematic experience. Instead, we get stuck with a joyless mix of comedy, adventure and romance that never ignites in the least. The 4K UHD offers very good picture and audio along with a mix of bonus materials. Though we find a nice release, the movie itself acts as a letdown.