But instead I saw "Land of Bad."

It was good. I knew nothing about it going in, except it had Russell Crowe & a Hemsworth (with a surprise bonus Hemsworth) and some of the people on the poster had guns. Good enough.

And I enjoyed it more anything else currently in theaters (of which Madam Webb remains off the list).

Liam Hemsworth is an Air Force combat controller (a special operations serviceman who is the 'eyes on the ground' to coordinate air support with ground forces), with the call sign "Playboy" who has very little experience under his belt, and is assigned at the last minute to an elite team inserted into the jungle on a rescue operation, to communicate with the armed drone flying cover for them. The team is led by Milo Ventimiglia, once of "Heroes" fame, and including Hemsworth's IRL brother, Luke. Playboy believes his method of warfare, with high tech and minimal casualties for the good guys represents progress from the brutality, but his impromptu teammates see it as another iteration of an essentially brutal activity.

When things go to shit, Playboy needs to work closely with, and trust the operators of the drone and other air support, to survive, complete what is possible of the mission, and escape, while being forced to confront some of the actual brutality of warfare, regardless of how advanced his weapons are.

Russell Crowe, meanwhile, plays "Reaper" the drone pilot, providing air recon and fire support, from a base in Nevada. He is way too old for his rank and the most overweight I have ever seen Crowe look, and is a pain in the ass to his coworkers with his complaints about neatness in the kitchen and nagging them to cover his personal calls, and is constantly turning his attention from his assistant's attempt to ask him a question of some importance to her, but he's the lifeline for Playboy and the team on the other side of the Pacific.

This is the first media I have seen since drone warfare became a thing during the War on Terror (what's the consensus on that anyway? Is it still going on? ), where the drone operators are treated by the narrative as part of the operation of equal standing with the men on the ground. Usually they are supporting players, who are a voice for fire support or aerial surveillance, or telling the heroes they're on their own, or else the focus is on the technology involved or the inhumanity of remote-control, push-button warfare. This film doesn't really seem to make any moral judgments, but rather shows just how useful it can be to the field operators, as well as some unexpected issues with conducting warfare from what is basically a typical office environment, and how a man like Reaper, who would otherwise never get near a high level operation involving "Tier One" personnel, end up in the middle of it, and what that can mean to the outcome.

Also, the film doesn't beat you over the head with the progress vs brutality dispute, beyond the pre-battle conversation, nor even really say who was right, but portrays both the personal brutality and the effect of the technology on the battlefield and how it changes warfare.

It's a good popcorn movie, but not stupid. Decently acted and well-made, and deserving of better than a February release (at least part of the reason why it's better than anything I've seen currently in the theaters is, of course, the studios' habit of dumping all their crap movies in February).