Land of Bad (2024)

FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://fandomwire.com/land-of-bad-review-an-engaging-yet-flawed/

"Land of Bad offers an engaging yet flawed rescue operation that should please most viewers seeking adrenaline-driven entertainment. With excellent performances across the board, William Eubank employs fast pacing, high-intensity shootout sequences with a few interesting stylistic choices, and basic yet riveting storytelling.

Character development and thematic depth remain surface-level, and the third act’s plot conveniences contrast with the realism of previous segments, but the film ultimately accomplishes what it promised, providing enough moments of tension empowered by a potent score to still reach the shore."

Rating: B-

I appreciate a lazy man. Sitting around angry in a car. Sitting around angry in a drone chair. Crowe is really doing it well. Cool explosions. Lots of guns. You can figure out if you like this movie by the box art. Didn't really believe the main plot shift or the disposition of the lead. Would have scored 2 higher if it was 30 minutes shorter. Basketball/pregnancy side plot would have been an easy way to cut all that. Get out the chair skinny boy. Fatties know how to drone.

Land of Bland as I call it, is yet another uninspiring, production line, pro US military, action flick.

Coming kitted out with the usual pro US exceptionalism and bad guys who have a valid point about imperialism but are still "bad" anyway, this film offers nothing even remotely original or in this reviewers opinion, terribly likeable.

The characters are your usual array of entitled, obnoxious, US military types, who go on a flawed escapade in someone else's country to retrieve a CIA asset. Things turn sour and well the rest is your by the book, bravado, darning do, bravery, codswallop.

Fight scenes are frenetic, well paced and impressive. Lots of pyrotechnics and slow motion bullet and shell casing shots.Certainly from an exposition point of view, this film is not dull.

Acting is unremarkable but its the story that really leaves a lot to be desired. Putting aside its predictable bias, this tale is cliched, pedestrian and utterly predictable. Its essentially, every stale, second rate, US military action flick, you have ever seen with Australians and New Zealanders, in the lead.

In summary, a film loaded down with tired pro US sentiment that's thoroughly unoriginal. Really only watchable in terms of its admittedly fast paced and elaborate, exposition.

Russel Crowe did a pretty good job. There were a bunch of explosions n stuff. It was alright I guess.

The beginning of this morning was a bit slow. But it did get better throughout the movie. The story line was decent. Definitely a decent movie. It kept you alert not knowing what was going to happen out on the field. Had some humor in it from Russell Crowe to guide the Hemsworth brothers through rough territory. Great story. Happy ending.