‘Badland Hunters’ Review – Ma Dong-seok Delivers Frenetic Guillotine Action

Doctor Yang Gi-su (Lee Hee-joon) has created a serum that, once injected, leaves someone with the inability to die apart from total head removal. With 100 deaths accumulating the majority of his human experiments, Doctor Yang’s research of saving his daughter on the brink of death is interrupted by a massive earthquake.

With no water or rules, Seoul has evolved into a post-apocalyptic war zone where everyone only looks out for themselves. A myth of an apartment building that provides shelter, food, and running water offers hope for the survivors. However, the doctor is using the apartments to continue his repulsive research.

When the doctor and his followers target and abduct 18-year-old Su-na (Roh Jeong-eui), a former boxer turned hunter named Nam-san (Ma Dong-seok, The Eternals), his young bow-and-arrow-wielding sidekick Ji-wan (Lee Jun-young), and a special forces sergeant named Eun-ho (An Ji-hye, Project Wolf Hunting) set out to rescue her.

Directed by Heo Myeong Haeng, a martial arts and stunt coordinator (The Good, The Bad, The Weird, New World) turned first-time director, Badland Hunters is a sequel to 2023’s Concrete Utopia. It’s bizarre that this isn’t advertised, mentioned in any capacity, or has any of the cast appear in either film.

The earthquake in Seoul and the destruction it brings to the South Korean capital are the elements bridging the two films together. Concrete Utopia is very much a human-driven film; a disaster thriller that thrives on people making cutthroat decisions to survive. Memorable performances are almost absent in Badland Hunters. Since a stunt coordinator is directing a film for the first time, it’s natural that the landscape has evolved into a more action-packed setting.

While the performances take a backseat to the action, Lee Hee-joon didn’t get that memo; his on-screen presence as a mad doctor is unhinged perfection. He is maniacal and relentless. The film’s finale sees him fully embracing the inhuman side of his position. His emotions are all over the place, and he’s this mess of a person who completely swears off humanity for his work.

Badland Hunters throws a group of survivors into a world that ended three years prior. A debilitating drought and cannibals are introduced, but only in passing. Nam-san and Ji-wan go out hunting for meat, which they then trade back at camp for supplies regularly. Su-na has a sickly grandma she’s trying to care for, so she’s pulled into a carefree apartment in the middle of an apocalypse concept so quickly.

Advertising for the film is misleading, however. The central promotional art for the film sees Ma-Dong-seok wielding a machete near an alligator, while the trailer features what looks like fast-moving, scrambling zombies. There’s also a reptilian tease to the doctor’s research involving snake-like tongues and thin, vertical pupils.

Being a fan of Ma Dong-seok’s previous work drove me to the film, but you also get the impression that he’s a zombie hunter with a pet alligator. Expectations included seeing this alligator chew through a horde of zombies and the doctor’s zombie experiments slowly evolving into a reptilian version of the undead. Like seriously, where’s that film?

But none of those expectations are ever met. There’s no alligator past its introductory scene, and the reptiles in the film are likely only used because lizards can regenerate their tails. The idea is that while the doctor has found a way for humans to survive longer without conventional food and water, they’ve become a new form of monster.

The film features some hard-hitting and explosive action sequences that will rightfully cater to fans of the genre. The battle in the basement of the apartment building, where we see Nam-san use a shotgun to blast his way through some of the doctor’s ‘enhanced’ individuals, is a total exhilarating blast. Ma Dong-seok has been a powerhouse for most of his career post Train to Busan, but he sends people flying whenever he throws his fist or pulls the trigger. Badland Hunters also has to break a record for most decapitations in a film.

Chock-full of impressive violence and spectacular action, Badland Hunters would benefit as a standalone film over being a part of a potential franchise.

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