Into the Badlands

Into the Badlands is probably the very best non-zombie accompaniment to The Walking Dead that AMC could have ever dreamed up.

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.

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.

Into the Badlands may not have a ton of smarts, but so far it’s a twisty, agreeable distraction.

AMC is airing only the show’s first hour this weekend, and if it leaves viewers confused about the world, come back for episode two, which fills in a lot of blanks about the Badlands and its characters.

The show is almost entirely unoriginal, from the plot to the fight scenes, but it wears its unoriginality with a certain panache.

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.