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S01.E01: The Fort

formerlyfreedom

By formerlyfreedom
in Into The Badlands [V]

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TorrinPaige

TorrinPaige

I am totally up for a Kung Fu Hustle television show, thank you. I will watch a few episodes for the fight scenes and because it looks pretty from the previews. Like Sarah, if they decide to go full on Fight of the Week - I'll stick with it. Otherwise? Enh. I really wish someone who is NOT Ryan Murphy could deliver me some sort of camp to watch on the television. Maybe this show will learn to embrace that?

pancake bacon

pancake bacon

Because: Daniel Wu, who is actually American, born in California and graduated with an architecture degree from University of Oregon! And he's hot too! (old gossip: he's ex-girlfriend is Maggie Q, of Nikita fame)

He went to Hong Kong to see the turnover in 97, stayed there because he found work as a model and actor. He's come a long way, a very strong actor and director/producer (he made a hilarious Spinal Tap mockumentary on Canto-pop)!

I'm excited to see him come full circle and do work in the US. He deserves a wider audience than just HK.

  • Love 4
SimoneS

SimoneS

(edited)

Not sure what I think about this show. I know that this sounds crazy because I watch TWD and Game of Thrones, but the world of Into the Badlands feels somehow even more unreal. However, Sonny is scrumptious, his girlfriend is pretty, and the fighting is pretty good so I will stick around for a couple more episodes.

Edited by SimoneS
  • Love 4
ottoDbusdriver

ottoDbusdriver

So, they have internal combustion vehicles, but not guns, I guess?

 

And apparently they don't have electricity either -- because there were candles EVERYWHERE.

 

But they do have access to oil as a source of power for the factories (I'm assuming poppy processing factories).

 

And what's with the old-timey cars and trucks ?    They look like they are from the 40s and 50s, but this is supposed to be hundreds of years in the future after some kind of apocalypse occurred.

  • Love 1
CletusMusashi

CletusMusashi

Here's what I did at first: I pretended that the motorcycle was a horse. Maybe the animal handler got arrested for trying to make little centaurs and so they couldn't get any actual horses for the show, so they pretended the motorcycle was a horse! Hey, it's no sillier than a guy banging two coconuts together.

And the larger vehicles could be chariots and oxcarts and whatnot.

But the factory running on oil was problematic for me. Unless it's just because no workers will show up if their biceps aren't sufficiently glistening.

At that point the whole thing just started feeling like it was written by twelve year old video gamers.

  • Love 3
blaksheba

blaksheba

I decided to devote my full attention to the show in hopes to find new viewing pleasure. so for that hour except during commercials I paid rapt attention to my tv. I thought this show was interesting.  I was pretty impressed with MK's temporary transformation into martial arts bad-ass effectively giving his rival the beatdown for which he was asking. 

 

I did have some weird WD crossover thoughts though, esp. when Sunny and MK were burying that group of people in the beginning; I was all like "Make sure you got the brain or else they will return.", then I came back to my senses.

 

I will be back; Daniel Wu has me hooked. He was quite sexy, esp when he and lady friend were canoodling, the way he was taking her in with his gaze was ... scintillating. 

  • Love 7
Crim

Crim

Gorgeous. The colors. The production design. The fight in the rain (not quite The Grandmaster, but who was really expecting that?) All the fighting scenes, really. I was hoping for a TV show that looked like a martial arts movie, and this does deliver. Honestly, acting and plot are secondary in the genre, always have been. The fact that the show looks good beyond fighting choreography is a bonus. Any thoughts on plot, technology (this is supposed to be a steampunk setting, they said IIRC), acting and the like will be postponed until I get over the "so shiny! so pretty! oooooh! swords!"

 

I've stopped watching TWD at the pilot, so this stands on its own in that regard.

  • Love 5
Stardancer Supreme

Stardancer Supreme

The show is gorgeous, but I wasn't compelled by the plot.  The barons may have banned guns, but what about bows?  They aren't that hard to make.  I also want to know how big the badlands is and why someone who isn't suppose to have a family doesn't use contraceptives.

 

It is beautiful! As a fan of Steampunk themed stories, I'm so in.  Daniel Wu is sexy and he has a black girlfriend.  Good.  I was thrown by the plantation references, so I hope the writers did that on purpose and that the other Barons is diverse in background.  I'm also looking for a female Clipper who is at least on Sunny's level.  

 

Now if I had a trained killer on my payroll, he would have been sterilized. Maybe the Baron didn't expect Sunny to find a boo! He's such a beautiful specimen of illiterate killing machine. 

 

Looks like the Baron's son is plotting to take his daddy out.  The lone female Baron seems to want that, too.  This should be fun to see who is more successful.

  • Love 3
Skyfall

Skyfall

The thing that pisses me off is people on twitter being like, "AMC forcing us to watch this show to see clips of TWD!!!!"

1) No one is forcing you to do anything.

2) Why not give a new show on the network that gave you TWD a chance?

Granted the pilot didnt make it clear this was post-apoc to help draw in TWD fans but still, why not shut up and give a new show a chance?

  • Love 6
shrewd.buddha

shrewd.buddha

(edited)

"Hey everybody, let's all promise not use use guns, okay? Pinky swear!!" ..And it appears they also agreed not to use bow and arrows - which really stood out as odd. 

The premise that guns are banned - just to have the excuse of lots of martial arts fights - just doesn't add up. If advanced weapons are possible, someone will make them. Or some rogue nation will appear and conquer everyone because they aren't part of the no-guns agreement. (If they can build motorcycles, they can make  guns.)

 

The kung-foo fighting was well done, with nice choreography - but I have learned from the Matrix movies that I can only watch so many super extravagant fight scenes before my eyes start to glaze over.

And this was the premiere ... so now they have to keep up this high level of fight  choreography and try to go even bigger.  

 

Bottom line : I wasn't really drawn into the story and none of the characters were very engaging. It didn't help that the kid-in-the-box appears to be the magical "chosen one". I've seen way too many versions of that story. Same goes for the story of adopted son (Sonny) being seen as a better successor than the devious biological son. (In fact, the whole post-apocalyptic feudal system with family drama seems a lot like the Dominion show on SYFY.) 

 

I could probably hang  in  there if this were a miniseries, but the premiere did not leave me wanting to see more. Sorry, AMC. 

Edited by shrewd.buddha
  • Love 3
Stardancer Supreme

Stardancer Supreme

I don't think the Baron sees Sunny as a successor, because Sunny is just the hired muscle who is necessary to keep him in power.  What he does know is that his son is plotting to take his place, probably with the help of his mother who is pissed at the Baron because he is taking another wife.  He is barely treading water because his health is declining.  There's blood in the water and the sharks are coming! 

  • Love 4
Bruinsfan

Bruinsfan

I was thrilled to see a martial arts action/adventure series with an Asian-American lead and some nods to the fact that future demographics shouldn't look like the audience at a Kenny G concert. But the worldbuilding and dialog are as bad as the cinematography, fight choreography, and wardrobe are good! I honestly think from now on I'm just going to mute the sound and watch the pretty, pretty visuals.

  • Love 3
that one guy

that one guy

 

Now if I had a trained killer on my payroll, he would have been sterilized.

Seriously. Don't want your assassins having children? Why not just call in the vasectomy van?

 

The fight choreography was great, and I like Sunny as a character. But so far, everyone else on the show is just a caricature, and Quinn can't die soon enough.

 

What's with the candles? Cars and motorcycles use batteries, so they know about electricity. Maybe it's just too expensive?

  • Love 1
Ariah

Ariah

Very pretty show, very pretty.

 

A post-apocalyptic western, I like the premise. The sword-fight in the rain was absolutely wonderfull, an anime come to life.

 

I'm putting the show on my "to watch live" list.

 

Now for some stray thoughts:

 

- young prodigies who turn into killing machines when bleeding -> not a fan. I prefer seasoned warriors with troubled past (see: Sunny)

- in need of a strong female character / badass. The widow seems like a good try, I'll see where she ends up.

- the first wife of the Baron knows the pendant / the city. Perhaps she's related to the young bleeding prodigy.

  • Love 1
RedheadZombie

RedheadZombie

The image of the group training reminded me of Kill or Be Killed, and Kill and Kill Again. 

 

This baron seems familiar. Did Mal Reynolds once land on his planet and fight a duel?

 

I thought the Baron kind of looked like Russell Crowe, and he reminded me of Candie from Django Unchained.  Throw in Civil War general and polygamist Mormon, and he's an interesting character.  There was something about his voice that I couldn't put my finger on.

 

And apparently they don't have electricity either -- because there were candles EVERYWHERE.

 

But they do have access to oil as a source of power for the factories (I'm assuming poppy processing factories).

 

And what's with the old-timey cars and trucks ?    They look like they are from the 40s and 50s, but this is supposed to be hundreds of years in the future after some kind of apocalypse occurred.

 

It seemed very Steampunk to me.

  • Love 4
MutieTheMailman

MutieTheMailman

The image of the group training reminded me of Kill or Be Killed, and Kill and Kill Again. 

 

 

I thought the Baron kind of looked like Russell Crowe, and he reminded me of Candie from Django Unchained.  Throw in Civil War general and polygamist Mormon, and he's an interesting character.  There was something about his voice that I couldn't put my finger on.

 

 

It seemed very Steampunk to me.

The actor playing Baron Quinn is Marton Csokas. He's Hungarian and got his start primarily in Australian and New Zealand movies. He played Lord Celeborn in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Most recently, he played the Russian assassin Teddy alongside Denzel Washington in The Equalizer. He's also been in The Amazing Spider Man 2, Noah, The Debt and tons of other movies.

  • Love 4
Netfoot

Netfoot

(edited)

I'm sure an illicit gun or two will pop up from time to time, but never fear!  Sweet sword-steel shall prevail!

 

I wasn't clear about something.  When Sunshine went out of the castle to get a piece of nookie, he was accosted by four or five swordsman belonging to Widow.  Where did this take place?  I assumed initially, that it was in the village/town/settlement that always arises near the walls of castles throughout history.  But if so, what was the Widow doing there, on what would essentially be the Baron's turf?  Did she sneak in?  Is it neutral territory?  Or did the encounter actually take place elsewhere? 

Edited by Netfoot
Eriu

Eriu

Soooooo many dudes. And the few women we do get are: Wife #1, Wife#2, Sunny's Girlfriend and Black Widow Baroness. I'm really not impressed by the representation.

I also wasn't really impressed with the plot and Marton Csokas' southern accent was really weird to hear, especially when his natural accent is pretty nice.

I'll give it a couple more episodes, but I'm not expecting much at this point.

  • Love 1
that one guy

that one guy

Soooooo many dudes. And the few women we do get are: Wife #1, Wife#2, Sunny's Girlfriend and Black Widow Baroness. I'm really not impressed by the representation.

I also wasn't really impressed with the plot and Marton Csokas' southern accent was really weird to hear, especially when his natural accent is pretty nice.

I'll give it a couple more episodes, but I'm not expecting much at this point.

 

The overarching dude-ness was a letdown, because in the opening credits it looked like more than half of the actors named were women. And I thought, "that's interesting." But then they didn't do anything or get any screen time.

 

And that accent was really annoying. I can deal with The Walking Dead being full of British actors with fake southern accents because I it's everybody, and between that and Norman Reedus mumbling all the time I can't understand anything and just turn on the closed captioning. But on this show, it's just the one guy. Sunny doesn't have a weird fake accent. Warlord Jr. doesn't seem to have a weird fake accent. Totally Not a Vampire kid doesn't have a weird fake accent. So what's up with Quinn? It's an annoying affectation. I wish HIS wife would kill him and take over as Baron...

  • Love 4
Ronin Jackson

Ronin Jackson

About the guns thing... if everyone had guns it'd be a show about guns. They are setting up a fictional universe where people don't have guns... it's simple. And the results are... the action scenes are a lot cooler. Fiction needs to be able to establish it's own set of internal logic. It's just as well to complain about The Walking Dead: "OMG! Dead people are getting up and walking and eating people! That's so dumb and unrealistic! OMG!" 

 

When the show can't follow it's own internal logic, as happens on TWD all the time, then it's something to complain about. I would anticipate this show may have issues on that end when all is said and done... but I never even got the impression that this show is meant to be taking place in the same universe as our real one, so whatever rules they establish are fair game. 

 

I'm intrigued enough to watch the first six episodes and see if it's going anywhere. I can tell you this much... if it were a show about guns and shooting people I'd be out already.

  • Love 8
CletusMusashi

CletusMusashi

(edited)

"Xena" was a show without guns. They didn't exist, nobody missed them, and there was no need to explain.

"Into the Badwriting" is a show in which guns do exist, but there is a halfassed explanation about why not even the bad guys want to use them.

The closest historical equivalent would be feudal Japan, which did do something similar, but they did not, as is frequently claimed "go back to the sword." Swords in many countries were a common sidearm alongside guns right up until World War 1.

What the samurais did was go back to the bow. Bushido didn't mean "the art of using a katana." It meant "The way of horse and bow." The primary weapon of the ruling class of Japan was a longbow, which required more training than a gun, and so they didn't want competition from another long range weapon. But in the absence of guns, they still continued to shoot people with arrows, quite often.

Also, the samurai class had a very long head start before guns came along, so convincing enemies not to piss off a whole bunch of archers by using a primitive musket was more realistic than convincing them not to piss off a whole bunch of guys armed only with swords and fists by using, say, a machine gun which could kill them all in thirty seconds.

Edited by CletusMusashi
  • Love 1
Ronin Jackson

Ronin Jackson

(edited)

I don't feel fiction needs to be "realistic"... that's one of the biggest criticisms casual viewers have about fiction... sometimes it's valid when a work of fiction establishes a framework where upon it is taking place in our world, the real world. That happens far less often than the criticisms are made. 

 

This show is clearly not taking place in the real world... it wants to be a post modern fantasy in which the action revolves around martial arts and swordplay. I mean, that's what the show is. That's in the premise.... Not everyone needs to be into the concept, but if you can't get that far without it falling apart, clearly this isn't a show you should be watching. What's funny is that if they did decide to incorporate guns in the premise... and it was a bunch of shootouts instead of martial arts and swordplay... the shootouts would be unrealistic... like 99% of all shootouts in television and movies... where the hero magically dodges bullets and kills scores of people with ease. And that might not have been criticized by the same folks who can't accept a post-modern fantasy premise involving action without guns.

Edited by Ronin Jackson
  • Love 4
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