Russell Crowe Brings A Classic Action Flick

About two weeks ago, I saw one of Russell Crowe’s movie, ’Sleeping Dogs‘ and I enjoyed the movie so much. So when I posted a review about the movie, @nameless16 recommended I watch ’Land Of Bad’ stating that Crowe was also part of the cast. If he had not recommended the movie, I would have known about the movie. All I can say is that it was a good recommendation and I don't regret watching. It was worth the watch.

’Land Of Bad (2024)’ an action war movie that was directed by William Eubank and co-written with David Frigerio. It starred Liam Hemsworth, Russell Crowe, Chika Ikogwe, Luke Hemsworth, Ricky Whittle, Milo Ventimiglia, Daniel MacPherson and Robert Rabiah.

This movie revolves around a US Army Delta special force unit that was out on a mission to rescue one of their assets that has been captured in the southern Philippines. Captain Eddie, a US Air Force drone pilot with his colleague Staff Sergeant Nia, provides air support for this unit in their mission through a young sergeant Kinney a.k.a playboy.

As they got to the asset’s location, they were ambushed. As they fought to protect each other, they got separated after a missile attack. Playboy was left alone to survive. He concluded that all his team had been murdered during the ambush. So Playboy’s only hope of get out safe lies with a remote Air Force drone operator showing him the safest route off the Island.

Will Playboy get out alive? Was his team really killed?

My Review And Rating

This movie took me by surprise and at the end of watching it, I was unexpectedly surprised. This movie reminded me of old action decent movies like ’Commando’ and the likes of them. It has everything that fans of old action flicks would appreciate. Like the directorial style, action scenes, the thrill feeling gotten when watching the movie, simple motivation and the plot.

What attracted me to watch this movie was that this movie is a war movie and Russell Crowe was one of the main characters. I always love to watch war movies but when I saw that Liam Hemsworth was part of the cast, I reduced my expectations for the performance of this movie. I am not a Liam Hemsworth fan so I just concluded that he would annoy me while watching the movie. However, Lian Hemsworth unexpectedly surprised me with his performance.

The plot of this movie is an interesting one, a familiar one (because we have all watched it before in a different movie) and well-written. However what makes it different and unique was that this movie follows the routine of 80’s action flicks and it relies on modern warfare tactics. Like drones, eye in the sky, air force and missiles which spiced up the movie.

The action scenes were well developed which made the movie a thrilling ride regardless of some of the flaws. 80% of the movie is action packed. It kept at the edge of my seat all through because I was anxious about who will be the last man standing. Also, I love that it was a typical good guys vs bad guys war. In the end, it was satisfying and bittersweet.

The Cast was good, but some of the characters in the movie are stereotypical, lacked imagination bland, but still it was not enough to destroy the thrill of the movie. However, some characters that enjoyed watching were Russell Crowe who acted as the Captain Eddie a.k.a "Reaper”, remote drone pilot, Milo Ventimiglia as Master Sergeant John a.k.a "Sugar" (who acted in ’Heroes (2006-2010)’ Tv series. and Liam Hemsworth as Sergeant JJ Kinney. Their performance was amazing and entertaining all through the movie though I didn't like that Milo didn't stay till the end of the movie.

Russell Crowe was the star of this movie for me regardless of the fact that his role is typical, but still he made this role enjoyable, entertaining and realistic. He transformed a typical role into a spotlight role no wonder why he won an Oscars.

The cinematography was fantastic and solid. The visuals were good. The chase, the attacks and explosions were properly filmed. The camera angles, sound effects and direction was excellent. If you love a jungle warfare kind of movie, then I would recommend this movie to you.

Rating this movie, I will give it 8 out of 10 stars. It was entertaining, thrilling and fun. It is a good stealth Cell Ops military action movie that would make you anxious all through. Ignore the negative reviews you see about this movie and give it a chance.