‘Badland Hunters’ Review
Last year’s Concrete Utopia was a fascinating, if maybe a little uneven, disaster film that saw an earthquake destroy Seoul and cause people to flock to a single-standing apartment building for refuge. Its social and class critiques were engaging, and Um Tae-hwa’s film quickly revealed the ways people behave when their future is uncertain. It’s not an inherently uninteresting observation, but it is a little surprising that the film’s premise of a ruined Seoul is now the launching pad for spin-offs navigating a newfound wasteland. However, Heo Myeong-haeng’s Badland Hunters makes a pretty strong case for continuing to explore that universe as it shifts genre and characters to give its leading star, Don Lee (Ma Dong-seok), another vehicle to pummel bad guys in a series of stripped-down and exhilarating brawls.
Taking place three years after Seoul was leveled by an earthquake, people now fend for themselves, and isolated communities have formed that do not concern themselves with others. Hope for a better future for anyone has become bleak and it seems hard to imagine Seoul becoming what it once was anytime soon. However, in an apartment complex, Dr. Yang Gi-su (Lee Hee-joon) has been researching a way for children to survive in the future, and the promise of safety lures Su-na (Roh Jeong Eui) and her grandmother to leave the outpost they’ve called home in search of a better life. However, not all is as it seems, and it’s up to former boxer Nam San (Don Lee) and his partner, Ji-wan (Lee Jun-young), to find where Su-na has been taken before it’s too late.
It’s a fairly bare-bones narrative and as such, it also packs very little emotional weight or thematic content worth exploring. Most of it is in Dr. Yang’s research, which digs into the idea of children being our only hope and the dismissal of adults in a post-apocalyptic world looking for hope. It’s a compelling notion for the film to grapple with, but it’s done so lightly and inconsequentially. Nam San has taken on a more patriarchal and caregiver role in the outpost and looks after everyone by ensuring they receive food, but only in exchange for valuables. He’s still looking out for himself, and it shows in his initial reluctance to step into any conflict that is not his problem. There’s not too much there either though, and the most interesting narrative elements of the film take place in the apartment complex.
This is partially because Dr. Yang is known right from the beginning by the audience as someone who does not care about human lives, and yet seems to be performing research that is supposed to better humanity. Lee is unnerving in the role, fulfilling the requirements of a mad scientist while also being given a minor emotional reason why he is doing what he does. Badland Hunters is constantly moving forward and spends little time trying to provide depth to its characters. Everyone is fairly two-dimensional with only the faintest nuance, which is only really glaring when put up against 2023’s Concrete Utopia which had genre thrills but felt far more concerned with character development. In the case of Badland Hunters, it just feels like a missed opportunity to give the characters a little more heft, but not a dealbreaker.
Instead, Heo takes his stunt director past to craft set pieces for Don Lee’s Nam San to punch through - as has become his calling card. It’s played up quite a bit (much in the same way that it is in The Roundup series of films), to the point where it’s now just comfort food and provides levity to watch Lee knock a series of henchmen out with full velocity behind his fist. It’s difficult not to crack a huge smile when Lee enters a scene because he’s so charismatic and has the physical prowess to be intimidating at the same time. Line up a few targets for him, and it’s always cinematic bliss. Here is no different as Nam San has a heart of gold while also being self-aware of his strength enough to know he can walk into a situation and comfortably tear through it.
What makes Badland Hunters distinguish itself from just being an excuse to watch Lee punch a few people, is that he’s surrounded by great action and choreography all around. Specifically, it’s the addition of Eun-ho (Ahn Ji-hye) to the fighting team of Nam San and Ji-wan that kicks things up a notch. With some impressive choreography, she’s given many impressive moments to take down enemies with a more kinetic, hands-on approach to fight scenes and Ahn leans into the challenge by performing many of the action scenes herself. Don Lee still remains firmly in the spotlight, but there’s exciting action happening all around him, employing different fighting styles more befitting of their characters.
Badland Hunters is a fun action film, that leans into its B-movie charms with some brutality and straightforward narrative. It does what a good spin-off should do which is provide a discrete story while fleshing out that universe. It is unnecessary to watch Concrete Utopia prior to seeing Badland Hunters, which is re-assuring for most as it’s still not widely available as of the time of this writing. As a feature directorial debut for Heo, the film demonstrates his eye for action while still understanding that it needs to be strung together with something interesting. It may not be the most interesting plot, but it has just enough momentum to string together a series of fisticuffs and close-quarters combat that will elate any action fan.
