The Dead Lands, La Terre des guerriers

The Dead Lands offers myriad of tribal warrior codes, brutal combat and near mythical depiction of ancient culture. Though it may set in archaic time, the visual is crisp and portraying the natural landscape with elegance. Clash of flesh and weapon are aplenty, this is not for the viewing of fainthearted as the scenes are surprisingly full of gore and blood.

Its premise is quiet simple. A boy's clan is attacked by the opposing rival clan led by the ambitious son of their chief. With false pretext and sudden ambush, the clan suffers greatly. The boy then must walk the path of vengeance which leads him to a scared ground and a warrior with dubious past. Acting-wise the film is brash, filled with both honor code and battle cries.

Casting looks good, the actors physically look intimidating. The old warrior has menacing air as one who has been shouldering heavy burden his entire life. This is an anti-hero story as well as how honor can mean so differently for each person. The characters all have their own salvation to search, but they do so with significantly different paths. Relationship between the boy and the warrior is interesting since both of them barely agree on anything yet still strive for a common goal.

Fighting is especially well-choreographed. In a few scenes there are mutilations which will make audience cringe, these are honestly rather unexpected. It's nice to see that the film includes a lot of Maori myth and style with motions as well. There's inclusion of mythology for unworldly presence, it's presented dynamically as how the ancient people would see it.

Unfortunately, the film possesses a couple of flaws. It's very combatant oriented, so some of the philosophical themes might not translate well for broader audience. The film has stumbled in halfway point as the visual gets uncomfortably dark and the pace halts.

Still, even with several hindrances, The Dead Lands is a great and brazen cultural visit.

Hongi is the young smallish son of Maori chief Tane. They receive a party led by Wirepa, son of the chief of the neighboring tribe. Tane hopes to make peace but Wirepa desecrates the dead and blames it on Hongi. Wirepa uses it as an excuse to attack during the night and massacre the tribe. Tane curses Wirepa as Hongi survives after getting thrown down a hill. Wirepa decides to lead his men through the Dead Lands where a spirit supposedly eats trespassers. Hongi follows them looking to kill Wirepa for revenge. He recruits the spirit to hunt down Wirepa and his men.

There isn't much to the story other than a simple revenge. There isn't anything new other than some good Maori fight action. The acting is perfectly natural. The characters are simple. There is a supernatural side to the story but it's not really elevated. It may be more compelling to make this more of a fable and increase the sense of the supernatural spirits. This is a little too basic.

Sometimes "last of ..." is not that accurate, especially if you have two who can be called that. For different reasons of course. And while the main story is pretty straight forward (and you can see where it's going) there are some gems here and there. The action scenes are pretty well executed. My Maori is not up to the task, but the acting seems more than decent too.

Talking about tasks, the question is is our main hero up to it? Being put in a situation, no one wants to be in, but sometimes you are forced to be in, is more than difficult. On the other hand, you have his mentor, who has some issues of his own. The dynamic works well, though you have to be open minded with what it means to be them or live in that sort of environment - if you can't get down with that, it can be dreadful to watch

This film delivers on the trailer's promise of an out of the box, skull crushing, action epic. It begins as a basic fable, but gains complexity as the story unfolds, all while hitting frequent action beats. The warrior's character in particular is more than a typical anti-hero, having far more of the "anti" than a Hollywood archetype.

I came for stylish brutality and badass fights, and this film delivers on both counts. As a martial arts film fan, I found the use of traditional Mauri weapons a fresh take on the genre. The choreography also holds up to a Hong Kong standard, but with a unique and brutal feel. All in all, it's a very memorable action epic. More than worth your time.

Pre European Maori built their culture on slavery, cannibalism, genocide and violence while living in the constant fear of war with each others iwi.

This film doesn't hide these facts and is the closest thing to the honest past released from New Zealand.

Many previous films portray Maori as victims of white people when white sailors were often killed and eaten too.

I applaud that finally there's near correct depiction and well worth watching twice.

Rollestons performance as hongi opened many doors for the lad, sadly his career was shortened somewhat by a automobile accident later in his life.

The excellent casting of many unknown actors gives this New Zealand film a refreshing look by avoiding the many over used talent in the small country.