Land of Bad, 2024..
Directed by William Eubank
Starring Liam Hemsworth, Russell Crowe, Luke Hemsworth, Ricky Whittle, Milo Ventimiglia, Daniel MacPherson, Chika Ikogwe, Robert Rabiah, George Burgess, Gunner Wright, Joey Vieira, and Lincoln Lewis.
SYNOPSIS:
When a Delta Force special ops mission goes terribly wrong, Air Force drone pilot Reaper has 48 hours to remedy what has devolved into a wild rescue operation.
Survival is dependent on communication. That goes for soldiers in the field and those back at military bases tasked with drone protection or handling the most basic duties of answering a phone. With co-writer/director William Eubank’s Land of Bad (penned alongside David Frigerio), it’s unclear if this is meant to be commentary and if some of these aspects are actual ongoing problems in real-world service today (especially in the case of answering that phone, which the soldiers repeatedly take off the ringer since it interrupts their enjoyment watching college basketball), or if it’s all nonsense whipped up for a third act that probably would have felt more tense provided it had a more grounded presentation rather than over-the-top, race-against-time thrills.
Despite that, something is lingering and even thought-provoking regarding how keeping an operative, who has already been separated from his squad and behind enemy lines, alive can come down to such simple forms of communication that, apparently, can’t always be relied on. Perhaps it’s stealth messaging on general distractions at work. The much more likely scenario is that I’m contemplating far too hard on an action-focused military offering lazily titled Land of Bad.
Of the four operatives sent on a rescue mission in the Philippines to retrieve an important person, the story centers on relative newcomer Kinney (Liam Hemsworth), finding himself on only his second mission for goofy reasons that will have one convinced there is a greater conspiracy at hand, especially since it’s not necessarily something he has proven himself capable of handling yet. Nevertheless, he quickly develops believable camaraderie with the interchangeable squad of macho soldiers, Sugar (Milo Ventimiglia), Abel (Luke Hemsworth), and Bishop (Ricky Whittle), playfully busting each other’s balls and occasionally getting into paper-thin deep discussions about how technology has evolved war. This film has simple-minded observations like “In the end, it’s about man killing man.”
Fortunately, the soldiers do have someone competent looking out for them at the military base, with Russell Crowe’s Reaper seated inside a control room and prepared to stay there long past his shift to make sure everyone gets home okay, especially once things quickly become FUBAR. Since Kinney also finds himself separated from the group, this does allow the soldier to get to know his eyes in the sky, but it’s all rather uninteresting details about failed marriages. The one interesting thing to note is that his fourth wife is set to enter child labor at any time, which explains his stern talks to the rest of the base about keeping the phone on the ringer and answering it.
As a pure action film, Land of Bad is solid with clean camera movements and no fear of shying away from the brutality of war, copious amounts of bloodshed or the startling, forceful impact some heavy power firearms can deliver. There is also a survival element that lends itself well to one-on-one combat struggles, with Kinney typically looking to escape and collect his thoughts. Liam Hemsworth also brings to the role a credible physical performance, not only looking the part but capable of making the action feel hard-hitting and suspenseful, even if he doesn’t show much charisma.
Land of Bad also doesn’t quite trust Liam Hemsworth or the action to carry the film, awkwardly shifting Reaper into less of an important character yet more of a presence in the third act. It Is as if the filmmakers simply decided that they hadn’t given Russell Crowe enough to do yet and that he and his life should temporarily become more of a focus. The results are mixed at best, considering Kinney is in life-and-death peril. However, this whole emphasis on Reaper also illuminates that maybe his entire character was a miscalculation and that this should have been a straightforward action flick. It’s not like the filmmakers succeeded here at anything else. The longer this goes on, the storytelling choices put one in a land of confusion.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
Originally published February 15, 2024. Updated February 16, 2024.
