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Movies likeValiant One, a new “American” action thriller from Steve Barnett, who co-wrote the dud with Eric Tipton, can go well beyond frustrating. Sure, the film has good intentions, trying to portray servicemen and women in a positive, albeit grueling, light. Does that mean we must treat the subject matter with such a contrived story?
Yet, even with the action film’s limited budget, time and care for the plot are jettisoned in favor of a political slant we have seen thousands of times before. However, none of that can cover the lousy acting, gaping plot holes, and puzzling character decisions that make you want to pull your hair out. Yet, Hollywood keeps recycling these movies, and we keep gobbling them up.
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Valiant OneReview and Synopsis
The story follows Captain Edward Brockman (Outer Banks’sChase Stokes), a soldier who usually sits behind a desk but is called up for a routine mission to fix communication equipment destroyed in the wilderness of South Korea. Yet, inclement weather turns nasty, crashing their Black Hawk helicopter.
Unfortunately, the surviving soldiers wake up to find themselves deep in North Korean territory. They are told by command that no one is coming to rescue them since they crashed off course in hostile territory. Brockman, along with Specialist Selby (X-Men: Apocalypse’sLana Condor), leads their team through rough terrain littered with enemy combatants across the Demilitarized Zone, hoping to find a way home.
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Valiant Oneis a Contrived Military Tale of Survival
The biggest issue withValiant Oneis that the script uses the subject of leadership as a plot point instead of a theme to drive the story. For one, Chase Stokes is too lightweight of an actor to carry any film over 90 minutes or more—even one as flimsy and utterly pointless as Tipton and Barnett’s script. The experience is exploitive and cloying.
To piggyback off that point, the film relies too heavily on emotionally manipulative deaths to move the story along and create a false sense of depth. There is a laughable scene involving a North Korean family that feels like an overused trope. Then, there is the cliché of having a minority character be the first to die, supposedly to remind us what they are fighting for.
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IsValiant OneWorth Watching?
Valiant Oneis not worth watching, and it is almost shocking that it is being released theatrically instead of as a streaming experience. I completely believed every moment ofTo All the Boys I’ve Loved Before’sLana Condor as a tough-as-nails, disciplined Army specialist. However, those moments are few and far between.
To make things even worse, there is a jaw-droppingly bad third-act plot hole involving an escape through a secret Army tunnel that no one is supposed to know about—yet somehow, it leads them into a trap, brazenly doubling down on the film’s contrivances. If you are looking for a mindless action film, the movie fits that description all too perfectly.
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You canwatch Valient One only in theaters January 31st!
Valiant One Review — Chase Stokes and Lana Condor Star in a Recycled American Action Film
M.N. Miller
Film & Television Critic
Articles Published :336
M.N. Miller is a film and television critic and a proud member of the Las Vegas Film Critic Society, Critics Choice Association, and a 🍅 Rotten Tomatoes/Tomato meter approved. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Mansfield University and a Master’s from Chamberlain University. However, he still puts on his pants one leg at a time, and that’s when he usually stumbles over. When not writing about film or television, he patiently waits for the next Pearl Jam album and chooses to pass the time by scratching his wife’s back on Sunday afternoons while she watches endless reruns of California Dreams. M.N. Miller was proclaimed the smartest reviewer alive by actor Jason Isaacs but chose to ignore his obvious sarcasm. You can also find his work on Hidden Remote, InSession Film, Ready Steady Cut, Geek Vibes Nation, and Nerd Alert.
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