Culture news This sci-fi film triggers the apocalypse on Netflix. I saw the K-drama Badland Hunters inspired by Mad Max and Resident Evil
South Korean cinema has experienced unprecedented growth in popularity in recent years. Netflix, aware of the growing interest of its subscribers in “k-dramas”, is tirelessly exploiting the vein. It is now the turn of a post-apocalyptic science fiction film to land in the SVOD service catalog. Does the land of the calm morning once again reward us with an experience of which it alone has the secret?
Badland Hunters in a few words
The end of the world hits South Korea this January 2024, at least on Netflix. Badland Hunters is a science fiction film directed by Heo Myeong Haeng who is taking his first steps behind the camera, and written by Kim Bo-Tong and Kwak Jae-Min whose previous works include Deserter Pursuit and Amanza respectively. This dystopia can, however, count on the experience of its director, formerly a stuntman on Old Boy (2003) then stunt coordinator on The Good, the Bad and the Crazy (2008) or New World (2013) to offer spectators a post-war adventure. -apocalyptic “punchy”.
Badland Hunters is mostly the sequel to Concrete Utopia which turns out to be the adaptation of the webtoon Pleasant Bullying by Kim Soongnyung. Released in August 2023 in South Korea, this sci-fi film is still pending in France. Coming back to the Netflix Original that interests us today, it can count on a 100% South Korean cast to bring its desert and hostile universe to life. Ma Dong-seok, whose career took off after his performance in Last Train to Busan (2016) then The Eternals (2021), plays the main role here. Here is the official synopsis for Badland Hunters:
In Seoul, a city devastated by an apocalyptic event years before, a determined hunter takes matters into his own hands when a teenage relative of his is kidnapped by a mad doctor who experiments on humans. – Netflix France
The cast of the Badland Hunters movie:
- Ma Dong-seok – the hunter Nam-san
- Lee Hee-joon – Doctor Yang Gi-su
- Lee Jun-young – Choi ji-wan (Nam-san’s sidekick)
- Roh Jeong-eui – Suna
- An Ji-hye – Special Forces Sergeant Lee Eun-ho
Badland Hunters releases exclusively on Netflix on January 26, 2024.
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Netflix or the South Korean apocalypse
Before getting to the heart of the matter, it is necessary to clarify an “essential” point. You don’t need to have seen Concrete Utopia to enjoy the new Netflix exclusive from South Korea. Badland Hunters is self-sufficient and introduces its universe sufficiently, albeit quickly, to understand the ins and outs of a scenario which has a series of obligatory passages (not to mention the clichés) of a (far too) codified sub-genre… that of the post-apo.
The film directed by Heo Myeong Haeng rarely surprises. And it’s not his story which strives above all to go from point A to point B without ever daring to go off-piste that will make me say the opposite. The result is a post-apocalyptic adventure which purrs if not roars, and which can only count on the performance of its actors and actresses to set the stage. Ma Dong-seok, always true to himself, is an endearing, funny and powerful “bear” capable of moving the plot forward with the sheer force of his fists.
It is there and nowhere else that the main quality of the film lies. Badland Hunters never skimps on the stunts and even less on the gore effects to please the spectators. The fight scenes, which are orchestrated with certain talent, give a good boost to an adventure that is otherwise “banal” and far too minimalist. Yet inspired by Mad Max and Resident Evil (to name only the obvious influences), the universe depicted but also the story told is content with the bare minimum to exist.
There are no scenes of roaring motorized chases in the desert. No mortal combat against exotic mutated creatures. No really memorable sequence. Nothing nothing… except for the martial prowess of the actors who visibly give 200% against genetically modified soldiers. Badland Hunters plays the good role, and ticks the boxes of a “serious” post-apocalyptic science fiction film one by one. Its lack of madness and originality make it a calibrated product incapable of making an impression, and that’s a shame!
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