Land of Bad (2024) | Film Review

The brutalities of war in film typically come in one of two packages: inspired by a true story or fictional shenanigans with mostly undistinguishable terrorists. Land of Bad, a pulse-pounding thriller pairing Aussie lads Liam Hemsworth and Russell Crowe, is firmly in the latter camp.

Liam Hemsworth stars as Kinney, aka “Playboy”, a naïve Air Force Sargeant whose most difficult task to this point is debating which breakfast cereal fits his mood. Due to unforeseen circumstances, Kinney is assigned a mission to extract a CIA operative in the Philippines. It takes little to no time for his unit (including a criminally underused but nevertheless badass Milo Ventimiglia, as well as Liam’s own brother, Luke Hemsworth) to find themselves in the thick of gunfire, and suddenly Kinney is on his own. Ill-prepared for combat, Kinney traverses the jungle in search of a safe landing zone for his own extraction, all amidst a looming army raining hellfire down on him.

Back in the comfy confines of Mission Control sits drone operator and Captain Eddie Grimm (Russell Crowe), aka “Reaper”. Grimm is a military lifer with a testy disposition and a penchant for romance, as determined by his propensity to dole out wedding advice to his partner, Branson (Chika Ikogwe), as he pontificates on his fourth marriage. With control over missiles and satellite imagery, Reaper is Delta Force’s eye-in-the-sky and the right hand of God all wrapped in one. As Playboy’s situation goes sideways, it is up to Reaper to keep this soldier alive long enough to reach a helicopter’s saving grace.

Liam Hemsworth has worn his share of unearned grief in recent years – not only is he Thor’s other brother, but taking over for Henry Cavill in The Witcher comes with the internet’s wrath, through no fault of Liam – and therefore it is worth noting how solid he is carrying this film. Land of Bad revolves around Kinney, and it’s through his eyes we witness this entire endeavor. Though it takes a while to buy that this massive piece of arm candy is somehow out of his element in combat, Hemsworth sells it, keeping us invested in his desperate plight for survival in the process. Not an easy task when your co-star happens to be one of the best actors of his generation.

Russell Crowe is officially in his “gimme the check, I’m about to crush this” stage of his career. If The Pope’s Exorcist has taught us anything, it’s that Crowe can make anything watchable. In Land of Bad, Russell Crowe is sitting in a chair for 95 percent of his performance, and every second of it is riveting. Whether wistfully recounting loves lost, dutifully calming Kinney down while ordering a drone strike of immense precision or chastising the ignorance of his fellow soldiers with reckless abandon, Crowe is here to play. And he does, in fact, crush this.

Yes, the story is fairly generic – it could almost function as a Behind Enemy Lines remake – and the script suffers a bit too frequently from lackadaisical attempts at levity (you will know the punchline of a lame vegan joke before it ever lands), but director William Eubank keeps the pace tight, and the thrills ever present. The only real complaint is the complete absurdity of our lead henchman; early in the film he is vicious and unforgiving, while later he drops a hint of Bondian exposition with the patience of a slug. Regardless, Eubank is not reinventing Saving Private Ryan, he is delivering tense escapism with grit and military flourishes.

Land of Bad suffers from a rather unfortunate title, but this is a hell of an entertaining movie. Hemsworth and Crowe bounce well off each other, and the finale is a nail-biter. This is worth a trip to the theater.