Michael Klug reviewed The Bad Batch for Horror Freak News. He summed up with the following:
A marvelous wonder of visual delights, The Bad Batch offers very little beyond that. You could probably watch it with the sound off (were it not for the eclectically lovely song choices) and simply enjoy how pretty it looks. You’re probably saying, “But if I have the sound off, I won’t be able to follow the story or get to know the characters!” Sound on or sound off, you won’t miss anything.
April Wolfe reviewed The Bad Batch for Westwood. The piece gives some details on the plot line. She summed up with the following:
Despite the star power involved in this project, there’s something wonderfully lo-fi about all of it. Amirpour’s inventive, less-is-more aesthetic shows up the usual CGI wastelands. She also doesn’t seem to give a shit about exposition, that habit of explaining every premise to death.
Chuck Bowen reviewed The Bad Batch for Slant Magazine and gave it 2.5/4 stars. This is a good read. Bowen points out how Tarantino and Kathryn Bigelow influence can be seen in Amirpour’s work. He wrote the following about The Dream:
Amirpour fills the frame with sight gags that complement this satirical possibility: A woman strolls throughout Comfort dressed as the Statue of Liberty, and a sign insists that “You can’t enter the dream unless the dream enters you,” an innuendo that’s confirmed by The Dream’s concubines, who wear T-shirts that proclaim “The Dream Is Inside Me.”
Robert Kojder reviewed The Bad Batch for Flickering Myth. Overall, it was a positive review. He finnished up with the following:
Obviously, The Bad Batch is not for everyone and will probably frustrate the living hell out of anyone that absolutely needs a coherent plot to find enjoyment from a film. With that said, it’s nowhere near as pretentious as one might assume; it’s beautifully captured and peppers in numerous characters so interesting that they each could probably have their own film. The story is not the reason The Bad Batch works, world building with memorable performances from limited roles deliver the lasting impression.
Gabriel Sigler reviewed The Bad Batch for Bad Feeling Magazine and said “it was the best post-apocalyptic, cannibal love story of the year”. He summed up with the following:
While the narrative of the film fumbles a bit towards the end, The Bad Batch is still a marvel to look at, from the literal psychedelic moments to the beautiful shots of the wide open desert landscape. Waterhouse makes a very formidable desert warrior (the amputee CGI work is top-notch), and she might rightfully claim the sort of fan adulation that greeted Charlize Theron for her great work in the Mad Max reboot.
Steve Koplan reviewed The Bad Batch for Unseen Films and had nothing nice to say about it.
Update: Bill Watters reviewed the film for Bleeding Cool and gave it 6.5/10 stars.
Headgeek attended The Bad Batch screening event at Stunt Ranch in Austin on Sunday and reviewed the film for Aint It Cool. Some tidbits are below:
Keanu Reeves’ THE DREAM has a bevy of heavily pregnant ladies wearing T-shirts proclaiming that THE DREAM IS INSIDE OF ME – and Keanu’s Porn-Stache fucking rocks the pillars of Valhalla! Also – his Pregnant followers carry Uzis. Which is a visual I’ll not be striking from the mind soon. He seems to provide sewage for COMFORT and drugs. I’m also quite fond that this film is a wide open universe – that could go for some awesome sequels as far as I’m concerned.
These feelings, these heroic ends, these characters just don’t exist in the studio realms. THE BAD BATCH is magical mixed with the nightmare of survival at all costs. Yet, it still, to me, felt like life continuing. Accepting new norms and moving forward with life, as we must.
Seek this film out, it is a jewel waiting to be found by you. Hope you love it as I!
Update X2: Dane Williams reviewed The Bad Batch for Caffeinated Film. He said the following about the performances and the film:
The performances in The Bad Batch are top notch across the board. Giovanni Ribisi is hilarious as a deranged citizen of Comfort. Keanu Reeves proves to be equally charming and creepy as the absurdly named The Dream. Jim Carrey also makes a brief and unrecognizable cameo appearance as a hermit who wanders the wasteland.
The Bad Batch is light in both narrative and dialogue, electing to focus on visual storytelling and vibe