Valiant One
Producer-turned-director does a lot with a little in familiar military tale.
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“Valiant One” (in theaters beginning Friday, Jan. 31) is a story we’ve seen many times before about soldier strangers in a strange land, i.e. “Behind Enemy Lines,” “Lone Survivor,” “13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi,” “12 Strong,” “The Outpost,” “Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant” and “Land of Bad.” Some of these tales are steeped in truth – others are not, but they’re all moving to some degree and serve as a stirring reminder to respect the men and women who serve this country. Familiarity be damned, “Valiant One” is a story still very much worth telling.
“Outer Banks” actor Chase Stokes stars as Capt. Edward Brockman, a soldier who’s biding his time doing enough to get by, but not enough to get noticed beyond the few bars he’s already earned. He has aspirations of working in IT once he gets out.
Much to his consternation, Edward’s commissioned to go on a mission alongside snotty civilian tech contractor Josh Weaver (Desmin Borges of FX’s “You’re the Worst”) to repair a satellite feed in South Korea. Accompanying them are Army Ranger Chris Lebold (Callan Mulvey) and Specialists Selby (Lana Condor), Wilson Lee (Daniel Jun) and Jonah Ross (Jonathan Whitesell).
Weather stops the fix from happening and contributes to the crew’s chopper going down … in North Korea’s Demilitarized Zone. The North Korean military are none-to-happy to see them there and are quickly in pursuit. Our beleaguered soldiers will have to engage in a series of fight or flight scenarios in order to survive up to and including laying low on the grounds of a North Korean farmer, his wife (Jerina Son) and their daughter Binna (Diana Tsoy).
“Valiant One” is the feature debut of producer-turned-director Steve Barnett (he previously had a hand in George A. Romero’s “Land of the Dead,” Zack Snyder’s “300” and Richard Linklater’s “Hit Man”). The script is by Barnett and Eric Tipton from a story by “The Blair Witch Project” filmmaker Daniel Myrick. The cast and crew appear to have done a lot with a little as I assume this wasn’t a big-budgeted project. Vancouver, British Columbia substitutes for North and South Korea. Gun battles are coolly punctuated with hip-hop music.
I liked a lot of the performances. Stokes makes for a likable lead. Condor, whom I fondly remember from the shortly-lived Syfy series “Deadly Class,” powerfully brings her own experiences as a Vietnamese-American to the part of Selby. The interactions and relationship between her Selby and Tsoy’s Binna are hugely moving. To see Borges’ Weaver evolve makes for a cool character arc. Jun’s Lee gets some fascinating notes to play being a Korean-American fearing the reception he’ll receive from North Koreans.
As good as everyone is, Mulvey is the clear standout for me. The actor, who many likely remember from comic book flicks “Captain America: Civil War” and “300: Rise of the Empire,” makes a huge impression with very little screen time. Lebold’s subplot revolving around a pistol that was passed from his grandfather to his father to him really resonated with me.
“Valiant One” isn’t perfect, but much like Mulvey it does a lot with a little.