This is what I get for not scoping out a movie more carefully. With Bill Murray’s resurgent career full of complex, quirky characters, my thoughts were mostly positive about this fi lm until the Walden Media logo graced the screen. Crestfallen, I realize the last fi lm I had seen produced by Walden was the much lamented Narnia sequel. Too late to jump into the next theater to watch Body of Lies, I decided to buckle down and endure the inevitable.

Mankind is on the brink of destroying itself. In a desperate attempt to save humanity, a group of the smartest scientists in the world gathered to build a secret underground city where humanity could continue unburdened by the atrocities of the past. After a predestined time of 200 years, the Mayor, leader of the city, was to lead the people back to the surface. Due to unfortunate events, the mysterious box that can lead the people out gets lost and the city endures much longer than planned. As their powerful generator begins to fail due to old age, the fate of the city rests in the hands of a couple of young citizens that are determined to save the city despite breaking the law.

To be fair, this film isn’t completely horrendous, just mostly. While being full of holes that require huge leaps of faith, the concept is actually very interesting but is something that would probably be enjoyed much more as a book than on screen. The idea of a group of scientists banding together to save humanity by creating such a city is a fun one, however I doubt such intelligent individuals would build such a lame city. This place is the last hope for all mankind?  It is riddled with steampunk imagery, tons of broken pipe and a bunch of lamps that must constantly burn out since they look like they’re from the 1940s. Talk about old school science!

To my great disappointment, the kids in this .lm out-perform Bill Murray. He just phones this one in and doesn’t bring any interest to his character. Such a loss of potential is a shame. The slack-jawed, young determined hero and his el. n-featured partner play their parts with much more enthusiasm and were a couple of the brighter spots of this film.

Another bright spot is the setting.While I don’t buy for a second that the smartest people in the world would assemble such an archaic city system,the backgrounds are very interesting and well constructed. The oversized critters are another aspect that’s hard to accept. Let’s face it… 300 plus years is not enough time of evolution for a mole to grow to the size of a polarbear, no matter how oxygen-rich the environment may be post humanity.

This .lm may be alright for a younger teen but anyone much younger or older would probably .nd it quite lackluster. There was actually someone snoring three rows behind me who I had to wake up. Riveting…

VERDICT | NOT!