SummaryLoosely based on Journey To The West, warrior Sunny (Daniel Wu) and a young boy named M.K. (Aramis Knight) must travel across the Badlands controlled by seven barons in a post-apocalyptic America in this martial arts drama from Alfred Gough and Miles Millar .
SummaryLoosely based on Journey To The West, warrior Sunny (Daniel Wu) and a young boy named M.K. (Aramis Knight) must travel across the Badlands controlled by seven barons in a post-apocalyptic America in this martial arts drama from Alfred Gough and Miles Millar .
Into The Badlands thrills in its nimble genre fusion a la "Kill Bill" and "Firefly" (though, it must be said, without the humor). Even more striking is its impressionistic world-building, skillfully painting a feudal society a few centuries beyond our own, outfitted with Studebakers and Saarinen chairs and dressed in bowler hats and bustles.
Great show. If you love action, great acting, an excellent storyline and have an appreciation for the martial arts, this is the show for you. I noticed that "users" rate this show a 8.1 vs "pro-reviews". Every week they pack in Jackie Chan quality fight scenes! Excellent show.
Everyone onscreen does a good job. That some of the readings are a little stiff is not inimical to this sort of drama.... The fights, which are bloody, fast and squelchy, quickly become purely choreographic; they're like puzzles to solve in order for the narrative to proceed and, perhaps not oddly, the only time the show feels fun.
Into the Badlands should be nonstop, melodramatic entertainment. But the first two episodes are listless and dull whenever Wu isn't battling villains. The writing lacks flavor, and the performances are stiff, with the florid exception of Csokas' Quinn.
For all the agility on display in Into the Badlands, the series feels narratively uncertain, stuck between the simple pleasures of genre staples and the sadly unfulfilled aspiration toward a more imaginative, substantive work of stylized fantasy.
Sure, it's all very derivative. It's purposely so. That's not the problem with these scripts. The problem is that, despite all the blood, too many anemic characters fail to register on the flesh-and-blood scale.
Nothing could equal Kurosawa, of course, but the Americanization of the story was at least credible as seven hired gunfighters protect a Mexican town from an outlaw gang. With Badlands, though, credibility is all but completely lost in translation, replaced by unintended silliness.
I'm catching up with Season 2. This show is one of the best shows I'm watching. The fights are the best I know. The characters are all strong ones. I hope to see many more seasons.
I wouldn't trust the rating on Rotten Tomatoes that much. They are giving The Orville 21% while the public is giving them 93%.
Into the Badlands is perfectly enjoyable television for genre fans and anyone looking for a new show with a large amount of potential that, the show itself, is only starting to grow into.
Having said that, I do anticipate Into The Badlands to catch on similarly to how The Walking Dead did. That may be a bold prediction, but for anyone who recalls watching the first (six episode, like ITB) season, The Walking Dead was in many ways awkward, corny, and without a strong, developed identity. It was the television show equivalent of going through puberty. Into the Badlands suffers from the same shortcomings in it's maiden voyage, I have no delusions about that, but beneath all of it I can really see the potential for something great and I'm looking forward to watching it grow into itself. In the meantime, it's still a very enjoyable ride.
If I had to relate this show to other shows/movies, I would probably say Into the Badlands is a combination of Game of Thrones with it's fatal politics and uber violence, and The Warriors (1979), a decidedly less complex story, and it's simple "faction" system, i.e. a strong use of color and uniformity between members making clans easily distinguishable.
"Into the badlands, come out to PlaaAAA-AAAAYYYYY!" *clanks coke bottles together*
Totally silly, but succesfully audacious; Into The Badlands has loads of full of fun little tv cliches sandwiched within some questionable performances and dumb dialouge. Nonetheless, if you don't come for the action then don't come at all because Badlands is focused on production costs, well choreographed fight scenes, comic book calibur melodrama, and then characters in that order. Not to say the acting is bad; its mostly just servicable with a select few standouts. The main baron Quinn comes off as the most natural; a sort of psycho power hungry Game of Thrones style king (lot of the pieces being set down in these first couple of episodes are totally Game of Thrones esque) who genrally just steals scenes and acts super evil just because. Which is the same thing one can say of the world building, its just there like it or not, logic be damned.
C'est dommage, j'ai arrêté avant la fin de la première saison... qui ne compte que 6 épisodes ! 6 épisodes d'une quarantaine de minutes, c'est pas la mer à boire et ça devrait pulser un minimum pourtant ! sauf que... ça tourne à vide, ça se traîne comme une limace neurasthénique.
L'histoire est bidon et n'avance pas d'un iota, les comédiens sont à la masse (sauf dans les combats mais je vais y revenir) et l'univers post-apo (?!?) est aussi pauvre que le scénario de cette société féodale où les armes à feu ont été bannies (c'est déshonorant...). L'univers est mal développé et certainement bancal et cette guéguerre entre les "barons" est aussi futile que leurs manigances minables.
Mais parmi la distribution, on a tout un lot de jolies filles souvent farouches et pas bégueules... car elles pratiquent le kung fu (!), la baston et les armes blanches ! le "héros", lui, préfère le katana et découpe en tranches ses ennemis ! et justement les combats sont étonnamment bien faits, surtout pour une série. Perfectibles certes mais incontestablement spectaculaires. Quant au petit con de service (qui s'appelle "M.K." ? Mortal Kombat lol ?) il a une espèce de "mode" furie mais il a surtout l'air con en fait.
Alors on zappe au maximum entre les combats et jusqu'au prochain combat parce que c'est rigolo mais qu'entre les combats, c'est juste ultra chiant ; ça devient vite fatigant tout de même de zapper à ce point, alors on arrête carrément parce qu'on a mieux à faire que se taper une série trop foirée. Putain de dommage.
Oh my God! A dystopian future where bowler-hat-wearing, double-breasted-vest-wearing, steampunk-motorcycle-riding hipsters are badass assassins? If these poseurs are the new hardcore soldiers of the future, who's going to get me my coffee; or show me what t-shirts they have in stock? Neat fighting choreography, just wish it was executed by actors with more fighting experience that '3 years Jazz, 5 Tap'. LOL