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New Zealand, United Kingdom · 2014
Rated R · 1h 48m
Director Toa Fraser
Starring James Rolleston, Lawrence Makoare, Te Kohe Tuhaka, Xavier Horan
Genre Action, Adventure
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After his tribe is slaughtered, Hongi, a Maori chief's son, must avenge his father's murder for his loved ones. Outnumbered by villains, Hongi's only hope is to pass through the forbidden Dead Lands and forge an alliance with the mysterious Warrior, a fighter who has ruled the area for years.
National Geographic meets the WWE in this brutal, brawling revenge tale set in pre-Colonial New Zealand, mixing insight into indigenous Maori culture with barked dialogue and vicious arterial sprays, making for a simple but exciting adventure.
The film is undeniably elevated by its exotic milieu. It's a shame, then, that it's stuck with such a familiar coming-of-age call to adventure.
Once you get past an awkward and artificial beginning and roll with the movie’s crazy rhythm, The Dead Lands is also a blast, and one that delivers an unexpected emotional wallop along with gore, thrills and spectacular scenery.
A phony collection of storytelling clichés held under the banner of archetype and lent a modicum of weight by the splendor of the landscape.
The Hollywood Reporter by Deborah Young
It’s a remarkable film experience in several ways.
While the primal you-killed-my-family-now-I-kill-you story smacks of old Westerns (and newer Liam Neeson movies), the pic rises somewhat above formula due in large part to its being acted out in this particular historic cultural context. Depictions of pre-colonialist Maori life are rare enough onscreen, let alone in this kind of muscular genre effort.
The A.V. Club by Ignatiy Vishnevetsky
The problem with this kind of universal narrative is that, like the cult of the golden ratio, it emphasizes formulas at the expense of those expressive qualities that actually make art and entertainment.
The New York Times by Nicolas Rapold
As it dives into this infrequently depicted culture, Mr. Fraser’s film is caught shuttling uneasily between speeches and action.
It’s a mash-up of familiar genre elements—too familiar, frankly—given a welcome sense of scope and shading by the location.
An unblinkingly fierce and bloody tale of slaughter and revenge.
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