Unlikable heroes aside The Lost City of Z is a fantastic old-school Richard Attenborough exploration tale

Don’t be fooled by the style of poster, the name or the fact we have a handsome action hero as the star - this is most definitely NOT the new Raiders of the Lost Ark.

It is however and incredibly beautiful and well structured film - produced, shot and performed with a real passion intent on minting the integrity of the story.

This is aiming for an old school Attenborough modus operandi and isn’t far off at all.

It’s so confident in itself it has wisely chosen not to plant a McConaughey, Pitt or Felicity Jones in the starring roles - instead allowing the cast of Hunnam, Miller and Pattinson breathing space to really shine.

Col. Percy Fawcett is a British explorer who discovers evidence of an unknown civilisation in the Amazon jungle at the turn of the 20th Century.

Mocked by his peers, the discovery becomes an obsession from which he can’t escape - regardless of the impact this has on his life.

All the cast do stellar work - in particular Robert Pattinson playing a soused Richard Dreyfuss-style sidekick.

Sienna Miller is bloody good but massively underused as Nina, the suffragette wife.

Aside from a few rousing speeches, she’s left to stare out of the window for years on end wondering if and when her husband was coming home.

Excitingly Tom Holland is the standout, as son Jack - the forthcoming Spiderman reboot aside, he is a huge talent to look out for.

So Percy trots off to the jungle, nearly finds something, gets despondent, returns home, gets his wife up the duff then gets itchy feet so sods off back again. Multiple times.

That’s the film. Whether Lost City of Z is supposed to make us root for or against Percy depends on where your views lie - It certainly does a great job of displaying his passion for exploration, but it left me watching a selfish bloke who would rather die in the jungle than face up to his responsibilities at home.

The ambiguously teasing ending wasn’t really enough for me to consider this the stonecold-classic many have praised it as.

Sure it looks utterly incredible and is as epic as it is grand and there is no doubting the massive talent of those involved… I just didn’t care that much for the hero. Soz.

Lost City of Z (15) 95mins
★★★★☆
FILM OF THE WEEK