Badland Hunters

Ma Dong-Seok is one of the coolest dudes in Korean cinema. I do think the film is a little disappointing as the post-apocalyptic setting isn't used in an exciting way. The plot is also nothing special. It is incredibly dumb and predictable while also having minimal explanation about anything. The characters are also very bland. There is barely any exploration of any of the characters including the main character. Due to this, they all come off as one-dimensional and this makes it very difficult to care about anyone.

However, it has some incredibly well-choreographed and fun action sequences. Who doesn't want to see Ma Dong-seok kick ass!

When it comes to netflix produced movies, the quality of the movies often reach to lower than the movies released in the theaters just like those straight-to-DVD movies. Of course there are few exceptions, but because of the long list of the sub par movies that Netflix produced, I tend to lower my expectation, and that seems to work out well when I watch netflix movies such as Rebel Moon and this movie, Badland Hunters. It was nice to see something new and different in both movies. The action scenes in both movie are also superb that are worth watching again. However, I would give just a little bit more points on Badland Hunters since it has shorter running time, but has longer action time. It's slightly more than 90 minutes, but it has a lot more actions. It's a cheesy and gory action flick that delivered what it was promising. What else do you expect? Life changing experience? Epiphany? Watch for the actions especially last 30 minutes. You won't be disappointed.

The latest SK actioner or the latest Don Lee trademark, that was the question beforehand. The good news: both. When he dominates the screen, the place rocks, as usual. But that's where the euphoria ends. "When he dominates the screen" is unfortunately not in the usual or desired rhythm. The post-apocalypse is, of course, based on pure CGI in the latest fast-paced filming, obviously. The story is rather hare-brained, nothing new, no aha effect. A half-baked mix of end times, dystopia, action, mad scientist, zombie horror, mutant horror and comedy elements. Half of the actors indulge in overacting. After all, such a crude mixture has a way of not being boring. And the gorehounds are also treated to a few brutal gore, especially in the finale. All in all, a can, not a must.

Ma Dong-Seok is one of my favorite action stars, almost on par with Jason Statham in my books in terms of entertainment value. His work is usually very enjoyable (the badass punches in Round-up 2, some of the best I've ever seen) action + humor, like almost nobody else.

I was really looking fwd to Badland Hunters, but this turned out to be a let down. The plot is these action movies isn't usually anything new but this had a bunch of stuff going on that didn't add any value...? Action for the sake of it....tsk.

That said, others seem to like it, for a mix of all sorts of action. If you have nothing else to watch, maaaybe check it out? I'd much rather rewatch some of his older content.

Badland Hunters: A South Korean dystopian action film which is a sequel to the 2023 film Concrete Utopia , I missed Concrete Utopia and wasn't aware of it's existence until after I watched Badland Hunters. Maybe I would have gotten more context if I seen the originak film first but Hunters is entertaining. World destroyed by mega-earthquakes. Mad Max style settlements plagurd by bandits, a mighty hunter who fights them off. There's also a mad scientist who carries out weird experiments on humans and has an army od super soldiers. We also get to see fast moving quasi-zombies. There's a quest and battles, some good hand to hand fighting and dastardly decapitations. Not to be taken too seriously but it's a goodish SF B movie with a line of humour running through it. Directed by Heo Myung, Screenplay by Kim Bo-tong & Kwak Jae-min. On Netflix. 6.5/10.