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.

Finally we have the Maori action movie we have all been begging for! If you have ever seen the Haka performed by the All Blacks, and wondered what these guys would do to their enemies without the limitations of Rugby rules, then all your questions will be answered. The plot is a Kung Fu style revenge tale. A young chief's son vows revenge for some tribal treachery, and hooks up with a mystical, wiser warrior, to take out a small army of baddies. Action movie aficionados will be pleased to see some authentic Maori weapons and fighting choreography, instead of the typical blade weapons and the Asian martial arts we see in countless movies these days. The acting is fascinating because you are basically watching actors represent their own culture from an earlier era, unlike let's say, having a Scottish man portray an ancient Greek warrior in a film. The authentic locations add to the overall realistic effect as well. I'm sure there are artistic liberties taken with the historical accuracy, but nothing as crazy as the 300 franchise. The directing is a bit frantic, with quick cuts and lots of camera movements during fight scenes, but that seems to be the visual style for action movies these days. Overall, this film is a fascinating look at a culture that is completely exotic to the rest of the world because of vast geographical distance and centuries of colonial influence.

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.

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.

The movie's plot moves along predictable lines i.e a tribe is wiped out by a ruthless clan of another tribe with only the chief's young son who is able to escape. How he takes revenge with the help of a flesh eating giant tribal man living in the Deadlands, forms the story.

What slightly separates the movie from other movies is - it is completely set in the jungles, shows how the tribals fight and and some of the fight sequences are staged well.

What was required was a tight script, bit of mystery and fear and more depth in the characters to make it interesting. In the absence of this, the film becomes sluggish to watch.

Give it a miss.