Apocalypto is the obvious reference point for this running action adventure set amongst the Maori tribes of New Zealand during an unspecified time in history. It doesn’t have Mel Gibson’s eye for spectacle, or his budget, but Toa Fraser (director of the underrated, beautiful and downright bonkers Dean Spanley) does what he can to ensure the blood and violence reign supreme.
Hongi (Rolleston) is the weakest son of tribe chief Tane (George Henare) and is deemed responsible for the latest guff between his tribe and the warring outfit led by Wirepa (Tukaha). When Wirepa wipes out all but a handful of his tribe, Hongi swears revenge. He takes his war club and spear and follows Wirepa’s men into the Dead Lands, a haunted territory it said to host a monster. If he is going to succeed in his mission of revenge, Hongi believes he will need the help of this monster, known as The Warrior (Makoare), a cruel cannibal but an unstoppable killer...
Lord of the Rings aficionados will know Makoare from playing Lurtz, the particularly evil- looking Urak-hai in Fellowship of the Ring, and Gothmog, the particularly evil-looking orc in Return of the King, which goes some way to explain why Fraser cast him here. John Wick worked overtime to sell the idea of Keanu Reeves as this unrelenting lethal assassin but affords himself some time setting this up: one look at Makoare’s hulking frame and nothing more needs to be said. The man has real screen presence and he’s the best thing about The Dead Lands. Fraser’s film does its best to make Rolleston’s Hongi its hero but his film belongs to Makoare’s battle-scarred monster. He’s the one who goes through change, the real redemption is his, and it is he who dishes out the violence, with a stylish moonlight battle in a stream the standout.
But apart from Makoare and the action scenes there isn’t much here to get in a dizzy about. Fraser’s big problem is that he doesn’t create anticipation. We hear about the legend of The Warrior not long before we meet him; Hongi hunts Wirepa’s men for days without seemingly gaining ground and then just stumbles across them; a battle comes out of nowhere. There’s no build up, no whetting of the appetite.
The lean story is at first appealing but as The Dead Lands moves into its third act it needed a bit more meat on its bones.