Land of Bad succeeds as a high-stakes war thriller that features intense action scenes and engaging performances from Russell Crowe and Liam Hemsworth.

Directed by William Eubank (Underwater), Land of Bad continues an impressive run for action movies this 2024 and does so at a budget that would cover the catering cost on most Hollywood “blockbusters”.

Shot in Queensland, Australia, Land of Bad makes great use of its pacific location with the green jungles and blue oceans a welcome break from the desert-set war films of the last decade or so. It’s on this mock battlefield where Eubank and his cast and crew go to war with a story that is not only an explosion heavy throwback to the jungle-warfare action films of the 80s and 90s, but also features the strong Aussie one-two punch of Liam Hemsworth and Russell Crowe as the films leads.

Hemsworth stars as Sergeant JJ "Playboy" Kinney, a rookie air force combat controller who is assigned to a Delta Forces team on a mission to extract a CIA informant embedded within an extremist Islamic terrorist group in the Southern Asian region of the Sulu Sea. When the mission goes haywire, Kinney finds himself alone and on the run with his only hope Captain Eddie "Reaper" Grimm (Russell Crowe), a seasoned air force drone pilot who guides Kinney through enemy territory.

Crowe delivers a charismatic turn as the “eye in the sky and bringer of doom”, the Oscar winning actor providing the emotional stakes as a drone pilot whose anti-authoritarian streak, no-BS sense of humour, and infectious humanity is given life and energy as only Crowe can. That he is also a dead-ringer for legendary filmmaker John Milius (whether intentional or not) is a bonus.

Hemsworth counters with a very physical action man role that see’s the Aussie heartthrob put through the ringer, as his character battles the elements and a horde of Islamic extremists literally gunning for his head.

Eubank’s handle of the action sequences is superb; from halo jumps to earth-rattling explosions, to hand-to-hand- combat scenes, Land of Bad hits all of its action targets. Eubank even manages to get the (often dreaded) use of shaky-cam right by enhancing the action rather than distracting from it.

Action warfare filmmaking done right, Land of Bad proves to be a thrillingly good time in the jungle.