by Charles Kirkland, Jr.
US Air Force technician gets embroiled in the battle of his life when the mission he is on which he is providing aerial support goes awry in Land of Bad.
Air Force Sargeant JJ Kinney has just been assigned to a special forces unit tasked to retrieve an intelligence asset from SE Asia. Kinney, a drone specialist, is only intended to keep the cover of the mission and connect to the home base through the drone operator, Capt. Eddie Grimm. When the team’s presence is discovered and they are eliminated leaving Kinney alone, he must rely on Grimm to get him home on a 48-hour battle with enemies for his survival.
The action thriller Land of Bad is written by David Frigerio and William Eubank. It stars Liam Hemsworth, Russell Crowe, Luke Hemsworth, Milo Ventimiglia, Chika Ikogwe and Ricky Whittle. Land of Bad is directed by William Eubank (Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin, Underwater).
Brothers Liam and Luke Hemsworth work together in this film but Liam is the star playing JJ Kinney, the Sargeant thrown in the deep end of the pool. Liam does well with the film. He communicates the pre-requisite amount of fear and resolve when necessary. When the story takes a turn and the mission changes, Liam almost transforms into another person, determined to not just survive but overcome.
This film is just another one of those new-age, procedural, jungle, military action movies. Where the old standard was Predator or Commando or even First Blood, this new breed of films like Kandahar or Extraction (starring the other Hemsworth brother, Chris) seems to be more grounded in reality and gives us heroes that react the way that normal people do. Whether that makes one buy into the story more is hard to tell.
The acting is decent but the one thing that stands out in the film is how different Russell Crowe looks in the movie from other roles that he has played. After seeing the hardbodies of the Hemsworths, Ventimiglia, and Whittle, Crowe’s physique is one that most can relate to. Being the drone operator, Crowe’s character grounds the movie even further by allowing the audience to look at the new technologically advanced battle techniques.
Rated R for strong bloody violence and language throughout Land of Bad is just an average attempt at giving a character-driven new world war story.
Land of Bad is showing on Netflix.
Grade: C