If you’ve ever perused Netflix, you know that the streaming service has tons of great action movies for you to choose from. Some people, though, may find themselves having seen all of the available options, or at the very least looking for something different. If you’re one of the people looking for something new on the streamer, then you should be eagerly anticipating the arrival of Land of Bad on Netflix. The 2024 movie is set to hit the streamer on July 18.
The movie, which tells the story of a young officer who gets stranded in a firefight and finds himself with only the help of a veteran drone pilot during a 48-hour battle for his own survival. Here’s why you should make time for this movie when it hits Netflix.
It features an impressive cast
While it adheres to many of the convention of the survival thriller genre, Land of Bad is elevated in large part by a deep and well-assembled cast. Russell Crowe and Liam Hemsworth are the movie’s two lead characters, and Crowe ably lends his gravitas to the part even though he’s largely confined to a single room.
The two of them are accompanied by actors like Milo Ventimiglia and Chika Ikogwe, who help to ground the material in what at least feels sort of like the real world, which is no small feat considering the movie’s premise.
It knows what kind of movie it is
In an era when more and more movies feel embarrassed to “just” be an action or horror movie, Land of Bad steers hard the other way. This is a meaty, machismo-driven action movie designed explicitly to be exactly that.
It doesn’t have the lofty ambitions of some recent horror movies, and its main goal seems to be that audiences walk out of the theater (or get off the couch) feeling satisfied. It may have a few things to say about the plight of the modern soldier, but it never lets those points get in the way of a solidly built pace.
It features several smartly assembled set pieces
As any movie of its kind should, Land of Bad is built around several smartly constructed set pieces that, importantly, never feel like they are repetitive. It’s a movie that organically builds toward its climax, and one where the final action beats are just as compelling as what’s come before them.
There’s definitely plenty of gunplay at the heart of Land of Bad, but it’s also a movie that features set pieces with distinct objectives and goals, and that helps to make the fights themselves feel less monotonous and one note.
It has a genuine feel-good energy
While it certainly leans heavily on machismo, you can’t help but walk away from Land of Bad with a sense of admiration for the men and women who risk their lives for their country and one another every day.
There’s a certain reverence at the heart of the film for America’s soldiers, and while that might veer into a more explicit political statement in the wrong hands, here it feels like something more wholehearted and sincere. These people are working together to save one another, and regardless of why they’re there, that’s something Land of Bad feels we should all admire.
Land of Bad is streaming on Netflix.
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