Concrete Utopia Sequel Takes An Entertaining Flip In direction of Motion and Zombies

Final yr, Um Tae-hwa’s Concrete Utopia turned a bona fide hit in South Korea and internationally. It was critically acclaimed, a competition darling, South Korea’s entry for Finest Worldwide Characteristic on the Academy Awards, and it was within the high 5 highest-grossing movies in Korea in 2023. The sequel to the movie, Badland Hunters, takes an sudden flip, specializing in the survivors on the skin, on the streets, among the many rubble the place a wayward physician threatens to upend what little is left of humanity.

Badland Hunters Is not As Advanced As Concrete Utopia

Starring Korean legend Ma Dong-Seok, Badland Hunters takes us to the lawless badland that was as soon as Seoul. Dong-seok performs Nam-san, a powerful and fearless hunter who goes on a rescue mission to avoid wasting a candy teen lady, Su-na (Roh Jeong-eui) from a mad physician (Lee Hee-joon) and his cultists. For his directorial debut, Heo Myung-haeng takes on Kim Bo-tong and Kwak Jae-min’s screenplay to craft an motion thriller that takes its cues from the thriving zombie style.

Badland Hunters is a South Korean motion movie directed by Heo Myung-haeng and launched in 2024 and is the sequel to 2023’s Concrete Utopia. After Seoul is almost annihilated following an earthquake and the land is was a lawless wasteland, a retired hunter named Nam-san returns to the sector to avoid wasting a teen helped captive by a mad physician and a bunch of cultists.

Execs

• Badland Hunters has glorious motion sequences
• The zombie actioner is entertaining

Cons

• Badland Hunters is not as compelling as Concrete Utopia
• The movie would not dive as deep because it may have

Badland Hunters doesn’t really feel like a pure successor to Concrete Utopia, primarily as a result of there are not any zombies within the first movie. The horror in Concrete Utopia was fabricated from unusual flesh and bone. Badland Hunters is simply a sequel as a result of it exists in the identical place and is explicitly set just a few years later. Watching the primary movie is sort of pointless. This one catches us up however would not straight connect with the occasions that passed off. Badland Hunters is a sequel that stands by itself, and if considered from that lens, it makes its shortcomings much less of an issue.

Story-wise, the movie follows a primary method — a mad scientist is motivated by his god advanced and creates a “treatment” to loss of life. A very good man pushed by his humanity is aware of there’s an harmless lady in want and leaps into motion. The remaining is simply particulars. Concrete Utopia tells a fancy and compelling narrative concerning the sudden battle between survival and humanity. Right here, such advanced themes are whittled all the way down to very primary concepts of what it means to outlive in an apocalyptic state of affairs. The subtlety of Concrete Utopia’s allegory at play is changed with brutal motion and bloody violence.

The screenplay would not dive deeper into the minds of people who find themselves surviving a world-changing catastrophe. The intimacy of the primary movie is misplaced, however what’s gained is Ma Dong-seok kicking butt. It is a truthful commerce, as long as you are keen to let go of the expectations that Concrete Utopia has set by way of story and character growth. In any other case, it appears like a missed alternative to not comply with the thematic thread.

Badland Hunters Has Glorious Motion Sequences & A Nice Solid

Badland Hunters just isn’t a nasty film. Regardless of my criticisms, it’s a good time. The characters are enjoyable, the appearing is excellent, and the filmmaking is exemplary. The writing is missing at instances, however the motion makes up for its lesser qualities. The motion scenes are maybe the best spotlight of the movie, as they’re thrilling, visually attention-grabbing and successfully used. The make-up and sensible results are additionally spectacular. As minimal as it’s, the work accomplished provides to the strain and scares.

Badland Hunters is certain to be an enormous success for Netflix, and that is largely as a result of Heo Myeong-haeng’s historical past with martial arts and his forged. He greater than proves his price as a director, and hopefully, this can launch him as a mainstay in motion movies. It isn’t simple to beat a generic screenplay, however his expertise and the actors take what little is given to them and make one thing that is pleasant. A movie starring Dong-seok is difficult to go up. Along with his magnetic presence, Ahn Ji-hye holds her personal as an motion star.

Badland Hunters is probably not a worthy successor to Concrete Utopia, however it’s an entertaining zombie actioner. If Concrete Utopia laid out the muse for a cinematic universe that explores the tales and adventures of the surviving inhabitants, there’s potential to see new inventive takes with varied genres to inform these tales. Concrete Utopia was a character-driven thriller, Badland Hunters is a zombie actioner.

So, what’s subsequent? A romantic comedy? An apocalyptic noir? A musical? The inventive determination to deviate from the unique setup is a daring one and one which does repay as a result of the casting is great and the directing is efficient. The inventive drive to attempt one thing new and totally different may make for an interesting sequence of movies, or Badland Hunters may very well be a part of a duology comprised of diametrically opposing movies.