Land of Bad — Review

As a stripped-back actioner that plays the hits and plays them well, William Eubank’s LAND OF BAD succeeds as a satisfying war thriller with simple appeal. Rooted in conventional storytelling and well-executed combat set pieces, while maintaining an astute balance between dour subject matter and unexpected levity, Eubank’s fifth feature is a keenly suspenseful ode to B-side action-adventure cinema. With a lean plot, purposefully thin characters and explosions aplenty, the movie operates as a semi-blank canvas for the actors to impress upon and for the director to shade in.

Eubank’s direction is expressive, slick and stylish, favouring clean coverage and elegant slow-mo over indecipherable shaky-cam carnage, but the performances breathe life into the piece. Liam Hemsworth is a fine lead, imbuing his character with essential everyman qualities and enough battle hardship to evoke empathy, while Russell Crowe’s eccentric drone pilot provides warmth and unbridled charm. Though not complex enough to be considered a character piece, LAND OF BAD grounds the stakes in the emotion of the characters, and that (partnered with visual pyrotechnics) pulls us through a by-the-numbers narrative that consistently entertains.