Land of Bad
February 12th, 2024
MOVIE: LAND OF BAD
STARRING: LIAM HEMSWORTH, RUSSELL CROWE, MILO VENTIMIGLIA, CHIKA IKOGWE
DIRECTED BY: WILLIAM EUBANK
AMovieGuy’s RATING: 2 STARS (Out of 4)
In recent years there has been a conversation around action movies and how the gold standard has become the John Wick series. Objectively, I reference the Keanu Reeves films too much, but the reason behind that is because Mr. Wick has changed how we see the genre. It’s changed things so much that it has become a template for movies such as Nobody and most recently The Beekeeper. The reality is that I love these kinds of movies. But it’s not just a blanket love fest for all action. Case in point, Land of Bad, which involves a soldier who is surrounded by his enemies, taking on fire from all directions, with only a drone operator able to guide him out. There are plenty of explosions and sometimes that’s enough, but Land of Bad becomes a brain-numbing exercise.
The lead character is Kinney (Liam Hemsworth), a rookie Air Force combat controller, who is thrust into a mission with a Delta Force Team. On the inside is Reaper (Russell Crowe- undeniably the best part of the movie), a drone operator, on the headset and guiding the team on their mission to rescue a kidnapped civilian. The Delta team is led by Sugar (Milo Ventimiglia), Bishop (Ricky Whittle), and Abel (Luke Hemsworth the other one). They poke at the new guy and give him flack but when they approach the compound they focus. Little do they know that they’re surrounded and when they’re discovered the mission becomes about survival.
It’s after all the chaos settles down where the narrative has room to breathe. At this point it is only Kinney left, wounded and with Reaper in his ear, taking him through the jungle, using infrared technology to locate the bad guys hunting him. It’s a neat device, where Crowe can be the wise veteran, a type of military Yoda. But make no mistake, everything about Land of Bad is chaotic, and the moments of conversation are overtaken by more explosions. The repetition of the chase becomes draining, no matter how loud or big the explosions hit.
The direction from William Eubank is a valiant effort, where the tricks become about switching up the styles of cinematography, from drone shots in the sky- similar to a movie like Eye in the Sky– fisheye lens images, and intense shaky cam. The failure of the Underwater director is in the script. Written by Eubank and David Frigerio, they forget to establish a villain, making the bad guys just a collection of brown-skinned men, while everyone besides Crowe fails to register outside of basic white guys. No matter how hard the middle Hemsworth tries, his charisma is as standard as it comes.
In the past, a movie like Land of Bad would have been exactly what I wanted to watch. It tries to be a throwback of 80s action, similar to Chuck Norris military rescue films or when Jean Claude Van Damme or Schwarzeneggers could be one-man wrecking crews. Instead, the result is a miss. The limited action and a lack of style fail to make Land of Bad any good.
LAND OF BAD IS PLAYING IN SELECT THEATERS FRIDAY FEBRUARY 16TH, 2024.
2 STARS
Written by: Leo Brady
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