There are a lot of generic action thrillers out there, and Land of Bad has all the qualities of one of them, except you have Russell Crowe, who commands such presence that keeps you interested for a brief moment. That is enough to see Land of Bad through, and the action is not bad enough to take you out of the film. The story is pretty straightforward, but it’s the emotional quotient brought in by the fact that the Hemsworth brothers, Luke and Liam, are in the film together in a life-threatening situation, plus there’s an intense Russell Crowe trying to save them while sitting in his station far away. It all culminates in a riveting thriller, which isn’t too bad considering the beginning is so dull and dreary.
Spoiler Ahead
Plot Synopsis: What Happens In The Film?
A newbie soldier, Sergeant J.J. Kinney, aka Playboy, had joined the operation to rescue an asset from the Philippines. The target was Petrov, a Russian arms dealer who had problems with Abu Sayyaf. Kinney was in great company, with Sergeant Abell, Sergeant Bishop, and Master Sergeant John Sweet. The mission was a dangerous one, and helping the team was Captain Eddie Grim, aka Reaper, from the base station. The soldiers were airdropped into the deep jungles of the Philippines, where Petrov was allegedly hiding. Aby Sayyaf came in with his army of violent men and took Petrov hostage, but Kinney and others were not given orders to go in and take control of the situation. However, when Sayyaf killed Petrov’s wife and started to go for the kids next, the soldiers had to ask Reaper to send in the fighter jets with the missiles. As they were going to take some time to come in, Kinney and the others had to shoot at Sayyaf and his men to give the kids a chance. However, this act gave their position away, and they became target practice for Sayyaf’s men.
How Was Kinney Caught?
Kinney was nearest to Petrov’s compound. He was almost caught by Sayyaf’s men, but thanks to Sweet, he survived. The jet with the missile had arrived, and it helped to create a diversion. After the dust had settled, the soldiers were in for a lot of trouble as they didn’t have much breathing room left. The onslaught was deadly, and Abell was the first one to go. He was shot, and although Kinney tried to save him, he passed away. Sayyaf’s men had a lot of firepower with them. They were brimming with rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and weren’t shy about using them on the American soldiers. Kinney had survived one such RPG, but he saw one hone in on Sweet and Bishop’s position. For all he knew, they had died on the spot. Kinney was left alone, and his only option was to listen to Captain Reaper, as he had satellite vision of the forest and could guide Kinney out to a safe location from where a helicopter could be sent to pick him up.
Kinney made a run for the lift-off zone, and for a while, it looked like he would survive. Reaper was being supported by Staff Sergeant Nia, and together they were doing a good job guiding Kinney. Kinney had reached the location, and the chopper arrived, but sadly, Sayyaf’s men reached the spot just in time, making it difficult for the chopper to land. Kinney barely managed to make a run for a distant lift-off zone. However, an unexpected drop from a cliff came in Kinney’s way, and he wound up in a river, with his gun left somewhere on the slope. Kinney was out of luck, it seemed, when two Filipino men saw Kinney and ended up capturing him. Now where Sayyaf’s men are is hard to say as they didn’t take Kinney to Petrov’s compound. Instead, they kept him hostage in a hut in the jungle.
How Was Kinney Rescued?
Kinney must have thought that there was no way he could be rescued because all his comrades had died, and Reaper didn’t have a clear position on where the hut was. But miracles do happen, and Sweet came looking for Kinney. He was alive, and so was Bishop. They had survived the RPG attack, but Bishop had been captured. Sweet must have been looking to escape, and during his way to the lift-off zone, he must have seen the two men capture Kinney. Hoping to get back to Petrov’s base and rescue Bishop and the asset they had been sent to get in the first place, Sweet got Kinney out of the hut. The two Filipino men were killed, and their guns were now going to be used by Kinney and Sweet to save Bishop. Reaper received some good news as Kinney made contact, telling them about Sweet and Bishop. In the jubilation, a plan was made to send in two missiles at a stipulated time to destroy Petrov’s compound. This later proved to be a mistake.
How Did Reaper Manage To Save Kinney?
While the soldiers had gone off to complete the mission, Reaper was having trouble with his superiors. He had always had some problems with authority, which is why perhaps he wasn’t at as high a level in his career as he would have liked. There was one thing about Reaper, though: he cared about the soldiers’ lives. That couldn’t always be said about the others. For example, Colonel Duz Packett was so busy watching a basketball game that he had completely forgotten that four American soldiers were in danger. Reaper had some personal things to worry about as his wife was pregnant, which is why he had asked the boys watching the game to keep an eye on the common satellite phone in the hall if it ever rang.
After Kinney had contacted Reaper and the plan to send in the missiles was made, Duz barged in and tried to get Reaper off the operation. Reaper only left because Nia would have gotten in trouble as well because she understood where Reaper was coming from and was going to take a stand against Duz’s abuse of power. Reaper didn’t know that Sweet and Kinney had gone into Petrov’s compound and had been taken hostage. The man who had replaced Reaper simply cared about sending in the missiles and didn’t bother checking the hotspots on the satellites. If he had done so, he would have seen Kinney and Sweet. The first missile came in, and because Kinney was being tortured and made to drown in a tub of water, he was saved from the missile’s impact. Sweet had already been killed by Sayyaf.
The men torturing Kinney were dead, and he had to look for Bishop and get him out as soon as possible, as he knew the second missile would be coming in soon. In trying to find Bishop, Kinney encountered the asset, a Filipino prisoner who must have had important intelligence for the American army. Kinney didn’t leave him behind, and together they found Bishop and made a run to get out of the cave they had been put in, near Petrov’s compound. The second missile was directed at the entrance of the caves, and Kinney knew that there was no time to get far away enough from the cave for them to survive the impact. The only way was to contact the base and get them to abort the mission. He got hold of a satellite phone and dialed the common phone in the hall, where the boys were busy watching the game. In a case of utter negligence, a soldier picked up the phone and didn’t even listen to what Kinney was saying. Kinney had asked for Reaper, and the young soldier gave Reaper’s cell phone number to Kinney and went away to watch the game. Reaper was out of the house and buying groceries for his wife when he got the call from an unknown number. He declined the call only to later hear the voicemail, which revealed that Kinney was in the cave where the second jet was honing in.
Reaper tried calling the base five times, but everybody, including Colonel Duz, was busy watching the game. Reaper drove as fast as possible, breaking all traffic rules and reaching base. He managed to take back control from the operator and communicated to the airmen to abort the mission. With just one second remaining on the clock, the mission was aborted. The operator was aghast that he hadn’t checked the satellite feed, where Kinney, Bishop, and the asset were clearly visible at the entrance of the cave. While trying to save Bishop, Kinney had already managed to kill Sayyaf, so there was nothing more to be done on the compound. They were safe, and all they needed was a helicopter to take them back to the base in the Philippines. Reaper, however, had something left to say to Duz and the other boys. He broke the TV on which the game was playing and told them how they were almost criminally negligent by not picking up the phone. He knew he would never get promoted, and his glory days had passed him by, but he had the courage to speak the truth, which is how he managed to avert a disaster and save Kinney’s life, who in turn had managed to save Bishop’s.
During Land of Bad‘s ending, we saw what Nia had been trying to communicate to Reaper all along. She had mentioned her wedding at the beginning of the film, when Reaper mentioned his love life. She was trying to ask him to be the man who would walk her down the aisle. Reaper had no reason to refuse. So, not only had he managed to save Kinney, he had also made Nia happy and relaxed about the most important day of her life. Kinney and Bishop were seen on a chopper, and it is safe to say that they will return home safely, all thanks to Reaper.
