Badland Hunters – B-Movie Thrills in this Don Lee Actioner

Set 5 years after a devastating natural disaster, Badland Hunters takes place in a post-apocalyptic South Korea where gangs roam the deserts, water is scarce and supplies are diminishing. While this is technically a spin off of the Korean blockbuster Concrete Utopia (which will see a North American release early this year), it is a completely standalone viewing experience. Not having seen the former, this film tells a very simple story for better or worse. In a small village, Ma Dong-seok (aka Don Lee) plays Nam-san, a hunter for the community whose taken on a father figure role for young adult siblings, Choi (Lee Jun-young) and Soo-na (Roh Jeong-eui). When a group of scientists arrive offering a safe haven for all young citizens as a way to “preserve and protect” the next generation, Soo-na is encouraged to leave with them but soon learned that it was too good to be true, as this safe haven is run by a mad scientist (Lee Hee-jun) conducting horrific human experiments breeding all kinds of zombies and monsters. Joined by her brother and ex-special forces soldier Lee (An Ji-hye), Nam-san embarks on the biggest hunt of them all!

Lee is one of the biggest stars in Korea at the moment, especially due to the hit Roundup series and fans of his and those films should find plenty familiar here. His whole brand is centered around his massive size and huge biceps, delivering thunderous punches that slice the air and reverberate the room. And from that angle, Badland Hunters more than delivers on its premise of…what if Don Lee punched zombies in a Mad Max type world? The actual narrative, villainous schemes and social commentary could not be more seeped in B-movie tropes, there are no surprises to be found here. From minute one, it’s quite predictable how the plot will unfold, what twists will take place, etcetera etcetera and that’s fine! The film is very aware of what it is and for the most part delivers on its simple thrills, only faltering when it spends too much time away from Lee during its exposition heavy middle act.

The mad scientist storyline with Soo-na, which this film cuts back and forth from, is perfectly serviceable and has its pulpy charm, with shades of 70s sci-fi dystopia to it all but it never goes far enough to be as memorable as the surrounding film leads up to its big climax. If the experiments were just a little more horrific, if the dystopian haven was a little more creepy, if the characters were a bit more three dimensional, it could better match the energy of Nam-san’s storyline. But despite some minor complaints, if something finishes this strong, much can be forgiven and when both storylines eventually intersect in time for the third act…it certainly delivers the goods!

Badland Hunters serves as the directorial debut of Lee’s long-time stunt coordinator and his action background certainly shows across this film’s many set pieces. From alligator wrangling, to shotgun blasting zombies and machete hacking bad guys, the film serves up a feast of unique kills and bad ass moments. The action is creatively choreographed and cleanly shot, outside of a bit too shaky cam in its first act, ensuring a constant switch up of method and mayhem to the brawls. Meanwhile, Don Lee makes great use of his fists and boxing technique and knows his way around a machete in a way that will surely have others spurring to shout “hell yes!” at my screen during a certain hallway fight. In the end, the secret MVP of the cast is newcomer An Ji-hye who reportedly performed 99% of her own stunts on screen and serves as a worthy partner to Lee in this film. Charismatic AND bad ass to boot, her fighting style switching between machine gun frenzy and sweeping kick flips that are a sight to behold.

Action movie fans have been treated well this year so far and they can confidently add Badland Hunters to their platter. With a strong serving of Don Lee’s signature punches, ultraviolent zombie action and good B-movie cheese slathered on top.

still courtesy of Netflix

If you liked this, please read our other reviews here and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter or Instagram or like us on Facebook.

Alex Josevski

letterboxd.com/groovyalex391/