An enticing quest but without clear narrative focus

Rating: 6/10 (11 March 2019)

A film which hearkens back to classic exploration epics of the mid 20th Century. Charlie Hunnam gives a well measured performance as the British geographer, Army Major, and explorer Percy Fawcett. He journeys into the Amazon at the dawn of the 20th century and discovers evidence of a previously unknown, advanced civilization that may have once inhabited the region. He was aiming for a city he called 'Z'. The film centres on passion and determination and obsession and escape but also the losses suffered by leaving the home - his growing family and dutiful wife - in service of fantastical dreams. It is a biopic by numbers and this is a troublesome area because Fawcett and his story have many critics. Nonetheless it is a stately adventure despite the slow pacing.