‘Into the Badlands’ review: High-tech, low drama
Ally Ioannides stars as Tilda in the new AMC drama "Into the Badlands." Credit: AMC / Patti Perret
THE SHOW “Into the Badlands”
WHEN | WHERE Sunday at 10 p.m. on AMC
GRADE C+
WHAT IT’S ABOUT Darkness and chaos have consumed the world, but seven brutal men and women have carved pockets of protection in the godless badlands. Quinn (Marton Csokas) is one, and in his servitude is Sunny (Daniel Wu), a so-called “clipper” — an elite warrior sworn to protect his master. For each man he slays, Sunny gets a tattoo on his back, and Sunny’s back — already covered in ink — is about to get even more crowded.
Sunny, a good man, wants to escape Quinn and his evil empire. He wonders if the boy with mysterious powers he has saved — M.K. (Aramis Knight) — just might be his ticket out. Meanwhile, Quinn, his rotton-to-the-core son, Ryder (Oliver Stark), and Sunny are on a direct collision course with another ruler, the Widow (Emily Beecham), and her talented daughters, who include Tilda (Ally Ioannides). Sunny has a secret adviser, Waldo (Stephen Lang). What does he counsel about the impending war?
The show is created and produced by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar of “Smallville.”
MY SAY There is no God in the Badlands, and based on the first couple of episodes, not much of a story, either. “Badlands” bushwhacks its way through the turgid narrative with a dull-edged meat cleaver, introducing characters so broad and one-dimensional that they’re really just line drawings masquerading as characters. And some of the writing is simply baffling, given the pedigree of those doing it: “I know buried under all this ink is a good man,” or “I like ‘The Cat in the Hat’ better.” The latter line is spoken by Sunny, who’s learning to read, and the irreconcilable paradox suddenly hits you: Sunny can’t get out of the Badlands, but Dr. Seuss can get in?
Viewers won’t pour out of “The Walking Dead” and into this for lessons in character development or Dr. Seuss. They will come for the action. They will not be disappointed. Dramatically inert, “Badlands” is at least technically accomplished. The fight scenes are bloodletting, head-rolling, saber-crashing, bone-crunching ballets of brutality. Wu’s Sunny has some mad moves, but Beecham’s Widow has even madder ones (and you don’t want to know what she can do with a pair of six-inch stilettos). Wu is fun to watch during the choreographed carnage, but the other real star here is actually off-screen — Stephen Fung, a prolific actor who serves as “fight director” for “Badlands.” And direct he does.
Can a series subsist on martial arts alone? No more than a series on zombies can subsist on walkers alone. Stories must engage; characters, too. Like “The Walking Dead,” “Badlands” is a road show, although it takes a couple of sluggish episodes to get on the road. The producers say this is “loosely” adapted from the classic Chinese novel “Journey to the West.” But it might just as easily be “loosely” based on “The Maze Runner” or “The Hunger Games” or “Snowpiercer” or any other post-apocalyptic popcorn you can think of. “Derivative,” along with “loosely based,” might be the better term.
With early episodes as guides, it does appear AMC — where greatness once ruled — has another disappointment.
BOTTOM LINE Dramatically inert, technically accomplished.
