Into the Badlands Season 2 makes being bad look so freaking good
By Devin Shea
AMC’s Into the Badlands is insanity and Season 2 recently hit home video. Join 1428 Elm as we enter into total chaos. Ready for some badlands?
One of the best genres, in my opinion, is post-apocalyptic. A dystopian future where bleakness and chaos is the order of the day and more often than not, people ride around in cars covered in human bones. I love that genre: Tank Girl, Mad Max, hell even 9! It’s something special.
When I first saw Into the Badlands, I saw an awesome lead character and a dystopian future Western and I loved it. It’s completely different than anything I’ve seen and Season 2 was just released today on Blu-Ray and DVD.
Image courtesy of James Minchin III/AMC
AMC’s Into the Badlands AMC follows Sunny (Daniel Wu), a deadly Head Clipper under Baron Quinn (Martin Csokas). Sunny, trained to be a ruthless fighter, has a secret; he has a woman he loves named Veil (Madeleine Mantock) and she’s pregnant with his child. Obviously, that’s bad news all around since it’s illegal and where he lives, The Badlands, is a dangerous place with a brewing war.
What ensues is the fight for Sunny to get himself and his growing family out of the Badlands and from under the thumb of Baron Quinn. Unfortunately, enemies are around every corner, and a new one named the Widow (Emily Beecham) has her eye on Sunny and his young, rescued compatriot M.K. (Aramis Knight) who has a special gift.
Image courtesy of AMC
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The second season proves to be just as intense and gorgeous as the first. The style of the show is not dissimilar to what Fallout does. Fallout uses a futuristic apocalypse in a world that never relied on electric power but instead on nuclear power, therefore the environment, the music, the fashion, everything stayed as it was in the 1950’s. In Into the Badlands, guns are outlawed and swords and knives are the weapon of choice. This gives the show an unusual ancient Chinese/old West style that I’ve never seen before.
The fight scenes are tremendous and Wu is the perfect lead.. And can I also comment on how happy I am to see strong Asian leads in American shows now? For so long, Asian men have been sorely underrepresented or seen only as either the comic relief or the old wise teacher. More and more Asian men are being represented as strong, masculine leads oozing with sex appeal, so this show seems refreshing compared to other action shows. There’s also an amazing appearance from Nick Frost as Bajie, an unlikely ally to Sunny.
Image courtesy of Antony Platt/AMC
While Season 2 expanded its focus to new and old characters more than before, Sunny and his story arc still remains story A, but not as much as before. In my humble opinion, Season 2 (and there is a bit of a time jump in the season) is more intense and fantastic than Season One and with Season Three on its way, I can only imagine the danger, the fights and the intensity will just keep on growing.
The second season of Into the Badlands was released on DVD and Blu-Ray on today and is definitely worth the watch. Season 3 is set to air April 22nd on AMC.
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