|
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION | ||
|
Positive:
12
Mixed:
21
Negative:
1
|
Watch Now
| Buy on |
|
| Stream On |
|
| Stream On |
|
Critic Reviews
Nov 13, 2015
Season 1 Review:
Into The Badlands thrills in its nimble genre fusion a la "Kill Bill" and "Firefly" (though, it must be said, without the humor). Even more striking is its impressionistic world-building, skillfully painting a feudal society a few centuries beyond our own, outfitted with Studebakers and Saarinen chairs and dressed in bowler hats and bustles.
Read full review
IndieWireApr 20, 2018
Season 3 Review:
There is no way to recommend jumping into Badlands with Season 3-the season premiere makes no effort whatsoever to re-establish the characters or scenario for new audiences. But fans who either kept up with the series during its run on AMC or discovered it on Netflix can rest assured that the narrative continues on in a relatively seamless manner.
Read full review
IndieWireMar 20, 2017
Mar 25, 2019
Season 3 Review:
This is a narrative that allows its female characters to be as powerful, politically savvy and ruthless as their male counterparts, and central to the action as opposed to part of the prizes being fought over. In fact, at this point in the story the women are the strongest rulers left standing.
Read full review
Nov 11, 2015
Season 1 Review:
Derivative? True fans of the genre are likely to think so, but that familarity makes the entry point into Badlands easier for the average viewer. So does a beautiful, ballet-like opening fight scene in which Sunny gracefully takes out a horde of enemies not nearly so well-dressed as he is.
Read full review
Nov 16, 2015
Season 1 Review:
Yes, it's riddled with comic-book clichés. True, the dialogue is out of a Cracker Jack box, and most of its characters have less dimension than cardboard cutouts. But I'm a sucker for well-choreographed kung fu films. And Badlands--a Mad Max-ian postapocalyptic kung fu western that costars Emily Beecham as a killer beauty--has some wonderfully wigged-out fight scenes.
Read full review
Nov 12, 2015
Season 1 Review:
Reservations about Into the Badlands center on supporting roles; it’s unclear if a set of younger characters will be as compelling as the ones played by the more seasoned actors.... All in all, however, Into the Badlands is a welcome addition to the television scene.
Read full review
Nov 16, 2015
Season 1 Review:
Everyone onscreen does a good job. That some of the readings are a little stiff is not inimical to this sort of drama.... The fights, which are bloody, fast and squelchy, quickly become purely choreographic; they're like puzzles to solve in order for the narrative to proceed and, perhaps not oddly, the only time the show feels fun.
Read full review
Nov 13, 2015
Nov 12, 2015
Season 1 Review:
How I wish the rest of Into the Badlands rose to the occasion of the phenomenal choreography. The story lines and the characters aren’t disastrous, by any means, but they’re disappointing as they fall into the action, post-apocalyptic, and family-soap formulas we’ve seen many, many times before.
Read full review
Nov 12, 2015
Season 1 Review:
The new AMC show is packed with rigorously choreographed and slicingly edited action scenes, and it builds a mythology that combines elements of Asian martial-arts movies, American Westerns, film noir, horror, biker flicks, and nighttime soap operas.... One big problem with Badlands is its punishingly dour tone, utterly devoid of humor or any fleeting moments of lightness.... I just wish Into The Badlands was more fun.
Read full review
Nov 9, 2015
Season 1 Review:
Beneath the veneer is nothing but cliches loosely stitched together. Actor Daniel Wu, however, does what he can. [13 Nov 2015, p.57]
Nov 4, 2015
Season 1 Review:
Though loosely based on the 16th century Chinese tale Journey To The West, Into The Badlands has no interest in folding in its folk mythology into the series that would distinguish it from an overcrowded television landscape. Instead, it adopts a cheap comic-book visual and narrative style that makes it just one in a crowd.
Read full review
TV Guide MagazineNov 19, 2015
Season 1 Review:
For all of the impressive whirling, gouging and slashing acrobatics on display in Badlands, the action often feels strangely inert. Whether badass male or kickass female, these combatants tend to be joyless, expressionless ciphers. [23 Nov - 6 Dec 2015, p.14]
Nov 16, 2015
Season 1 Review:
The problem is that at no point during the first couple of episodes does the show truly come alive as a drama about actual people inhabiting a convincing fictional space. It doesn't pulse with life, as any series defined mainly through its actions ought to. And when action does happen, it's disappointingly personality-free.
Read full review
RogerEbert.comNov 12, 2015
Season 1 Review:
The dialogue is so clichéd that it calls attention to itself. And that wouldn’t be such a problem if the plotting could overcome the clichés, but it’s thematically shallow too. Through all of this, Daniel Wu does his best to ground Into the Badlands. He’s an engaging lead, and seems eager to be given more to do in terms of character than look concerned and kick ass.
Read full review
Nov 9, 2015
Season 1 Review:
Nothing could equal Kurosawa, of course, but the Americanization of the story was at least credible as seven hired gunfighters protect a Mexican town from an outlaw gang. With Badlands, though, credibility is all but completely lost in translation, replaced by unintended silliness.
Read full review
Current TV Shows
By MetascoreBy User Score