‘Into the Badlands’ pilot review
By Lauren Paulsen, Senior Columnist
4/5
When I first looked at Into the Badlands, the story intrigued me, but I wasn’t expecting much. Badlands is set in the future, after a war-decimated humanity. Guns were outlawed, so fighting now occurs with swords. Sunny (Daniel Wu) is known as a Clipper, someone who kills people for his Baron in this feudal-like future. Sunny saves a boy named M. K. (Aramis Knight), who harbors a secret and may also be able to lead Sunny out of the Badlands.
I was pleasantly surprised with the first episode. The plot ended up having more depth than I expected, and I thought the fighting scenes were really well done. Sunny, of course, hasn’t had a scratch laid on him as of yet, which might seem a tad unbelievable. The choreography of the swordplay is absolutely beautiful, and it was even what led me to check the show out after seeing it in a trailer.
Something else that I really liked was the setting of the poppy plantation where Sunny’s Baron (Marton Csokas) resides. Despite the dark reasons behind the poppy plantation, the fields are a beautiful sea of red. Interestingly enough, I recognized the fields, giant wall, and mansion of the plantation from another movie I had seen. I couldn’t remember which one it was, but some digging revealed that it is the same poppy plantation used in Django Unchained.
I’m glad that I gave Into the Badlands a try, as it has proven to be better than I was expecting. I look forward to watching the story develop over the following episodes.
