The Big Picture

Badland Hunters’ production design effectively creates a post-apocalyptic setting that feels unsafe and inhospitable. The building that plays a significant role in the story fails to create the intended contrast between itself and the world outside. While the action in the film is mostly well-executed, the overall experience falls flat, failing to flesh out its concepts and themes effectively.

The great thing about American audiences finally getting into South Korean projects is that slowly the subtitles can become less and less of an obstacle for bigger audiences. The bad thing is, as we’re exposed to a bigger number of Korean dramas, we quickly realize that they can’t all be Parasite and The Handmaiden. With Badland Hunters we get the familiar taste of good ideas that South Korean cinema tends to offer, but the execution completely fumbles the message.

Set in a not-too-distant future, the dystopian movie is a sequel to last year’s Concrete Utopia and centers around what’s left of humanity after a massive earthquake totals Seoul. From then on, society struggles to come across basic resources such as water and meat, and Nam-san (Don Lee) and Yang Gi-su (Lee Hee-joon) are the ones who help provide it to their group of survivors. What little peace they have is disturbed when a rogue group invades their camp with the mysterious mission of taking specific individuals away.

Badland Hunters Release Date January 26, 2024 Director Heo Myung-haeng Cast Don Lee Runtime 107 minutes Distributor(s) Netflix

If there’s one thing that Badland Hunters is good at, it is setting up a post-apocalyptic scenario. Its production design and cinematography are efficient in evoking a hostile environment that you certainly wouldn’t like to inhabit. Even though this is not exactly a new approach to the subgenre, you can’t help but appreciate the fact that every corner of the screen feels like a place you’d be desperate to escape from – and that’s why the production design also slightly fails to set up a contrast between the badlands and the building that later becomes an important part of the story.

There’s a delicate balance to this building. It needs to be perceived by viewers as both a safe haven and an eerie location, but it fails almost completely in both aspects. Instead, it becomes a generic and uninteresting place that hardly contributes to the ideas that Badland Hunters wants to explore and, later on, the movie’s ultimate secret.

The Violence of ‘Badland Hunters’ Is Justified

Badland Hunters makes mostly good use of its violence. Some more graphic scenes might feel gratuitous, but they underscore the reality of a world in which basic humanity is out the door and everyone has to fend for themselves. In that regard, one could even argue that the movie is sometimes not violent enough when it could be – especially in the segment where we visit the den of a group of erratic individuals who only have their own interests in mind.

Despite all that, those good elements combined don’t amount to much once you figure out the direction that Badland Hunters is going. The screenplay by Kim Bo-tong (D.P. Dog Day) and Kwak Jae-min (Amanza) is clever enough to showcase how sometimes cataclysmic events like the country-shattering earthquake of the story are seen by greedy individuals or corporations as an opportunity to put an agenda in motion. But when it comes to fleshing out that concept, the movie falls flat.

During a section in which we follow Suna (Roh Jeong-eui), the movie picks up a few threads and flirts with several subjects that vary from slave labor to the pressure put on teenagers to excel in adult life. But none of that is ever brought front and center. This would be fine if Badland Hunters had other themes or moments to attend to, but that’s not the case. It has its share of action pieces with the fighting choreography we’ve come to expect from South Korean action movies – although director Heo Myeong Haeng (in his feature directorial debut) uses way too many cuts and close-ups that at times don’t allow us to actually see much of the fights. As for the badland hunting, there isn’t much going on there at all.

‘Badland Hunters’ May Be a Fun Ride if You Don’t Look Too Closely
Image via Netflix

Badland Hunters had enough material to be a top-tier and frantic rescue mission action flick, but it strays away from that in order to set up concepts that make the overall experience feel like you’re watching the first couple of episodes in a series. The ultimate reveal of what’s really going on is “meh” at best, and makes you wonder why the movie sidelines its initial storylines to dedicate a huge chunk of time to conspiracy themes that never fully pan out.

All in all, Don Lee comes out the other side unscathed since his charisma helps carry most of the story and he’s always fun to watch. From his first scene and across the subsequent acts of Badland Hunters, you’re always curious to see how he’ll behave or what he’ll do next, even though the movie doesn’t seem all that interested in the character, his past, and his wits. When the story gets to the end, you feel the same way about the character that you feel about the movie. You kind of like it, but you feel like you haven’t learned much at all.

Badland Hunters REVIEWBadland Hunters is an occasionally fun action movie that still doesn’t make the most of its premise. ProsDon Lee’s charisma is worth the watch. The post-apocalyptic setting is well executed. ConsIt feels like the beginning of a series. Concepts are introduced but not fleshed out. The big surprise is not that interesting.

Badland Hunters is available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.

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