when the fat guy at the desk deserves an Oscar

Lots of shoot em up war movies out there, which I usually don't watch. 

But hey, after the narcissistic Netflix heroines and elderly ladies trying to look like they are 20 in the most recent Hallmark movie, we decided to watch a shoot-em-up movie for a change. And chose this one, Land of Bad, about a hostage rescue, because it was supposed to be in the Philippines.

Uh, fellahs: The heroes should be Philippine Special forces since Americans aren't allowed in direct combat here (although they are helped by US drones and communications stuff) but never mind. It's actually an Australian film, so the Hemsworth brothers are the stars, busy fighting bad guys. 

It was filmed in Queensland, not the Philippines, which is probably a good idea given the logistics would be easier and hey, jungles are jungle.

the bad guys spoke Tagalog, which is not spoken in Mindanao, (but hey, at least they tried to make it authentic). And just for fun, they made the bad guy a Russian arms dealer, not an ISIS type.

it shows how the US drones can help in jungle warfare: spotting where the bad guys are hiding and then shooting them. Authentic? Don't know: I predate drone warfare.

In summary, a good violent war rescue film for all the guys who like to see the good guys win.

But what was surprising? 

Russell Crowe is a guy sitting at a desk in Las Vegas who controls the drones, and he steals every scene he is in. 

 I doubt he will win any award nominations, but hey, he deserves one for this film.

I give it a four out of five stars. A bit violent for we gals, but never mind. We gals will let you watch this if you let us watch Barbie again.