Land of Bad

This exciting, behind-enemy-lines thriller is set in the southern Philippines and revolves around a 48-hour battle against Islamic State. Tensions run high as we follow drone operative Sergeant JJ "Playboy" Kinney (Liam Hemsworth) and his team (played by Liam's brother Luke Hemsworth, plus Ricky Whittle and Milo Ventimiglia) as they attempt to rescue an asset. When the operation goes wrong, Playboy is left stranded alone in the jungle, while Captain Eddie Grimm "Reaper" (Russell Crowe) is back at base providing air support. William Eubank (The Signal) is a great action director, and the attack scenes are terrific: exciting, dynamically shot, and convincing. Having cast Crowe in a supporting role, though, Eubank and co-writer David Frigerio scrabble to give him enough to do. The result is that we learn little about Playboy - the ostensible hero -and far too much about Reaper. There's a great movie in here, but as Eubank cuts between Playboy escaping a compound and Reaper buying cheese, it never quite emerges.