It’s not entirely accurate to say that The Lost City is Romancing the Stone with dick jokes, but it’s pretty close.

Romancing the Stone, which came out in 1984, was a romantic adventure starring Kathleen Turner as a successful but lonely romance-novel writer who gets swept up into a jungle caper (with a smuggler played by Michael Douglas) that is very much like one of her novels. The Lost City, released Friday, stars Sandra Bullock as Loretta Sage, a lonely but successful romance novelist who gets swept up in a treasure hunt based on one of her novels, only this time she’s stuck navigating a tropical island adventure with Alan Caprison (Channing Tatum), who plays the dashing hero – but he is nothing more than the slightly dim cover model for Loretta’s books.

Loretta is in a creative funk; she phoned in the ending of her last book and would rather mope around her house mourning her late husband than go on the promotional book tour her agent Beth (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) is forcing on her. Loretta’s main objection to the tour is appearing with “Dash” (Tatum), who shows up to events in character and steals Loretta’s thunder by taking credit for the book (and taking off his shirt) to the delight of the female audience.

After one disastrous appearance, though, things get crazy. Loretta gets nabbed by some goons, who take her to see their boss, Abigail Fairfax (Daniel Radcliffe). Fairfax wants the treasure Loretta wrote about in her last book; as it turns out, it is not entirely fictional. Loretta, prior to turning writing romance, did historical and archaelogical research with her husband. Fairfax thinks Loretta can help him deduce the location of “The Crown of Fire”, a priceless artifact from the people of the remote Atlantic island he just bought.

Loretta declines to help Fairfax, but he won’t take no for an answer, kidnapping her yet again and hauling her across the ocean to where his treasure hunt is in progress. Alan, who saw Loretta being taken the first time, is working with Beth to track Loretta down. He calls in a favor with a ex-Navy Seal he knows, Jack Trainer (Brad Pitt.)

The pair track Loretta’s smart watch to her location and fly their separately. Jack wants to perform the extraction himself, but Alan insists on tagging along. Of course things go wrong, and somehow (don’t want to spoil it!) Alan and Loretta must fight their way to freedom together.

Bullock and Tatum are certainly attractive and their characters are adorable here; the audience will definitely be rooting for a happy ending for the twosome. Radcliffe, who has made some interesting post-Harry Potter role choices, continues to play against type as the strenuously evil bad guy, who seems to grow more unhinged with every new plot development. (The baddie in Romancing the Stone was another manic Daniel: Danny DeVito.) Pitt is great when he is on screen, playing the real-life “Dash”, but his screen time is limited.

The main problems with The Lost City are the lack of surprises (the plot twists, bar one, are very easy to predict) and the fact that the stakes seem pretty low. Despite the fact that everyone is racing to find the treasure before a volcanic eruption buries the treasure location (and the island!) the plot seems to move at a glacial pace, with plenty of time for jungle strolls and romantic looks.

That’s not to say that The Lost City isn’t enjoyable; it certainly is. And it really doesn’t have to live in the shadow of Romancing the Stone – it’s a modern movie that will probably appeal more to modern audiences. But if there is a sequel, it will hopefully take a lot more chances than the first volume.