Valiant One, 2025.
Directed by Steve Barnett.
Starring Chase Stokes, Lana Condor, Desmin Borges, Callan Mulvey, Diana Tsoy, Daniel Jun, Jonathan Whitesell, Stephen Adekolu, Ronald Patrick Thompson, Leo Chiang, Dimitry Tsoy, Jerina Son, and Tyrone Pak.
SYNOPSIS:
With tensions between North and South Korea, a US helicopter crashes on the North Korean side. Now the survivors must work together to protect a civilian tech specialist and find their way out without the help of US military support.
With the opening text asserting that “heroes aren’t born, they are made,” all one needs to know is that co-writer/director Steve Barnett’s Valiant One has the meagre aspirations of a military recruitment advertisement. Barely clocking in at 80 minutes, the film follows a U.S. Army team entering a demilitarized zone in South Korea to make some technical repairs (whatever it is, apparently, it will help Americans sleep better at night) will finish that job and then, upon leaving, find themselves inside a storm (rendered through some rough special effects, although that’s the least of the problems here) that throws them off course and crash-lands them in North Korea. The only option for a medevac is to go through the jungle to an area where the U.S. military can meet up with them.
Now led by analyst Edward Brockman (a blank Chase Stokes), forced into taking over leadership duties despite having almost no field experience, Valiant One goes through a series of bland emotions and action sequences without much dynamism. With fellow soldiers by his side, most notably Lana Condor’s Selby, they sneak around until stumbling into a situation involving civilians, a language barrier, and a young girl they end up protecting. No one here has much personality whatsoever. The film mostly comes across as a propaganda tool touting military heroism while making broad gestures of unity for North Korean, South Korean, and Korean-American civilians.
When one considers what happens along the way during the mission, that heroism is up for debate. There is a gruesome execution sequence that seemingly serves no purpose other than to create a contrived scenario for these soldiers to do something heroic. However, the Army is technically a direct result of the tragedy that puts them in that position. The screenplay from Steve Barnett and Eric Tipton (with Daniel Myrick receiving a story credit) doesn’t consider this, and while that is understandably difficult considering the language barrier among characters, there is an offputting disinterest in exploring them and telling a story through action. One could probably find first-person shooter games from the 90s that have more narrative ambition (which might have less of a propaganda bent to boot.)
Even the most fundamental aspect of storytelling here, which involves a green soldier gradually transforming into a courageous hero, carries no weight. The action sequences are entirely forgettable, aside from the baffling choice to set most of them to hip-hop music blended into the original score by Benjamin Backus, culminating with a shootout in an underground cave (teased in the media’s res opening) that is dull. Valiant One is competently constructed and nonetheless coherent, but you’re better off watching Army recruitment videos; they have the same jingoistic messaging without being disguised as a bad movie.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association, Critics Choice Association, and Online Film Critics Society. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews and follow my BlueSky or Letterboxd
