Valiant One

The beginning of the movie seems good. The actors are acting good. We can think of this movie like "The Lone Survivor", when American snipers were doing the best they can to escape death from their villains. The cameo is good with real Korean villagers interacting with the soldier-actors. You can really think the place was in North Korea.

I was a little bit dismayed when a segment of the movie showed Korean villagers talking Korean to the soldiers yet none of those who seemingly looked Korean soldiers were native Koreans. Unable to respond to the villagers. How come? In real life, you will need local soldiers to help you in your mission, right? LOL. So, I was a little bit disappointed. It seems that this movie wants to insert some comedy to make you laugh. However, this movie is a good start and could become a potential blockbuster had it been edited properly.

The story is fairly good. This movie is full of very young Netflix actors and and miscast in several roles. This isn't the Outer Banks lol. The directing is fair to good and some of the action is good in parts but as a whole is not even close to believable. I think with the right actors this movie could have been better. The main flaw is the lead actor and he thinks he's in Outer Banks, which he was good in just not good in this movie. He's the wrong look for a military man. I like the North Korean idea on tension. Honestly at times the actions of the soldiers makes our military look bad even though I do not think they wanted that. The military advisors failed in this movie!

Something that's creeping into more and more films I'm noticing is beginning with a scene from the end and then flashing back to however long before to find out how they got there. I suspect it's related to the success of 'The White Lotus' but it needs to stop. It adds nothing to the film and it takes all the suspense out of earlier scenes when those characters are in peril.

'Valiant One' was a passable movie. It's very short which helps it hide a lot of its flaws. It knew it had to get in and get out and it did. And the flaws are there if you look hard enough. The acting isn't great, there a number of highly implausible scenes and the characters are all over the place.

But if you switch your brain off and just decide to have a good time for 80 minutes then the film can work. Military survival films are always fun on some level. 6/10.

It seems I liked this movie more than most. I guess it's because it entertained me. I totally agree that the movie was poorly shot and the scenes and logic were weak. It was overall slow, slower than it needed to be, but i get the feeling they were going for. The ending was just ridiculous to me, but I won't even get into it. Regardless, I did enjoy the concept and trying to put myself into that situation. I've really started enjoying war movies more than i ever have so that may play a role into why I feel the way I do about it. That being said, this isn't one I would go out and buy.

Watched at AMC on 2-5-2025.

Mediocre Movie which could've been better with better direction and story.

The Lead and other actors could've played a better role too.

These characters were not fit for combat, they couldn't aim, or the direction made it that easy to notice. Again, shouting repeatedly in army scenes/roles is common but when it is not well executed it looks worse.

The second half made no sense, not that the first half did.

I have seen only Lana Condor's work. I loved the way she did the previous roles, but after this I think she should stay away from such roles, she didn't try her best or the characters were that inexperienced I don't know. She just failed big time.