"Into the Badlands" Where In a World Without Guns, Fighting Is an Art!
And oh boy...is it ever!
Cast: Daniel Wu, Emily Beecham, Aramis Knight, Sherman Augustus, Lewis Tan, Orla Brady, Babou Ceesay, Ally Ioannides, Nick Frost, Lorraine Toussaint and Oliver Stark
First off, I kick myself in the ass for never making a review of this series when it first aired on the AMC network. When Into the Badlands announced its run, I became excited because it has everything I love watching; warriors, amazing martial arts sequences, swords fights with the special zhing of blades crossing, amazing cast with enough diversity to keep some critics quiet and so much more.
Season 1 follows the story in a post apocalyptic world of Sunny (Daniel Wu); the deadliest Clipper in all of the Badlands with a hidden past, loyal to the baron Quinn (Marton Csokas) ruling under the Armadillo sigil. Sunny with skills that hold no equal, began doubting his allegiance to Quinn once rescuing a young boy from a group of mersenaries working for the Widow. Little did Sunny realize, this young boy M.K. (Aramis Knight) with an ancient gift connected to Azra, would soon lead them both on a journey through the Badlands. While Sunny has a reputation of his own, so does the Widow (Emily Beecham); a woman wanting a world where women are free from under mens' rule. In a way, can't blame her for wanting that because there's nothing wrong with being a strong independent woman...to certain extent, I mean women still need men. Quinn and the Widow are at war over territories, oil and poppy fields which lead warriors from both sides into much anticipated fight sequences.
Season 1 finds its end where Quinn; dying from a brain tumor, realizes his son Ryder (Oliver Stark) betrayed him and had gone to another baron for an alliance against his own father. Ouch, I guess blood isn't thicker than water in this case. Sunny too, finds his way into a mix of betrayal as the River King captures him after Sunny double crossed him by deliverying a head of a boy that wasn't M.K which also gets captured, thrown into a trunk for a 2nd time and taken to a monestary located somewhere in the mountains.
Season 2 continues where the first season left off, where the fight for survival still carries on but for Sunny, things are far more complicated. Especially now that he's a father and his beloved Veil is no longer in this world. Poor Sunny; a dangerous warrior fights his way back to the Badlands with his sidekick Bajie (Nick Frost); another character with a past of his own. All of the characters in this series have pasts that don't want to be revealed. While Sunny and Bajie come across their dangers one of which was another legendary Clipper Nathaniel Moon (Sherman Augustus), M.K is going through difficult training to control his "gift" with many others like him but after growing tired of the Master's ruling thumb and riddles, he escapes after finding out that Sunny killed his mother. And during all of this, the Badlands have gone to hell for the Widow is going up against the other barons for territories one of which gets a little complicated for the Widow as she finds herself having feelings for a baron's brother, Gaius Chau (Lewis Tan). Uh-oh...but great taste Widow! Go for it! ;)
Season 3 introduces Pilgrim (Babou Ceesay); a loyal follower of the city of Azra and possesses the gift himself in the ways of two warriors. He leads his band of Azra loyalists with his woman or seer Cressida (Lorraine Toussaint) across the Badlands before settling on an island castle-museum of the ancient world. They're obsessed with possessing the power of the gift, wanting to use it to create a new world or bring Azra back to the people of the Badlands. Little do fans realize that Sunny's destiny leads him to Pilgrim in hopes of saving his son that possesses the gift but is far too young to contain it. Pilgrim; although so convincing, tricks Sunny into releasing the boy unto him and once doing so, Pilgrim absorbs the gift from the child into himself, by utilizing a chamber that once belonged to Azra activated by the omnious compasses. Season 3 is airing their last episodes of the season and it's such a shame they're not returning for season 4. I guess AMC is too hung up on focusing on The Walking Dead which I hear is turning to crap. But this review isn't about TWD.
I hear fans all over Twitter and Instgram rooting for Netflix to pickup season 4 and I really hope they hear us because this series still has so many stories to put on screen and still so many more fights to engage in. It can't end...it just can't.
The martial art sequences are fantastic and never disappoint. Regardless if they're the actors themselves or stunt doubles, the movements are natural before the fancy flips and classic flying through the air, but that's okay with me. I don't mind any of that because I love it! The sword fights are chilling and give me goosebumps, especially when the blades clash creating such a hypnotic zhing. Sometimes I wish I could be in the series just to be part of the sequences. As far as the wardrobe and set designers!? They're amazing because the sets look as if they're real places and I'm sure even the actors must feel the same while standing in the center of it all. And all of the elaborate costuming especially for the Widow and some of the other characters such as Gauis and Nathaniel, with the dark shades of red and blue velvet. They all look fantastic and regal!
The writers and directors have created such an amazing series that at least fans can say they had 3 seasons to watch. It's definitely a series I'll be adding to my collection of DVDs.
The cast is well picked and has enough diversity to keep critics quiet and doesn't just focus on one culture or race. It's everyone fighting-not just one and just because it's martial arts, it doesn't mean they have to hire an entire Asian cast. It's perfectly planned out and since the series is coming to an end (hopefully not) I wish all of the actors the best of luck in all of their future projects and I just want to thank 3 of the actors (of which I won't name) for liking my Into the Badlands posts for it means a lot that they acknowledge their fans on a somewhat personal basis. Even if it's just a like.
My rating for INTO THE BADLANDS is an ass-kicking and fantastic 5⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ and if I could go higher in the rating, I'd give it a 10.