Inspired by true events, the military thriller “Valiant One” was released in theaters Jan. 31, telling the story of becoming a hero and finding a way home when circumstances seem near impossible.
The movie follows Sgt. Edward Brockman (Chase Stokes) and tech specialist Josh Weaver (Desmin Borges) after a storm leaves their team stranded on the other side of the North Korean border. Brockman, now the highest-ranking officer, is forced to lead this team through North Korean territory without encountering the military, all while figuring out what it means to be a leader in the field.
To say the least, “Valiant One” proved to be a very mediocre movie with great acting and a few decent action scenes. Starting with the positives, the actors’ performances effectively portrayed the fear and anxiety the soldiers must have felt trying to get home while being actively hunted in enemy territory. Lana Condor did an incredible job playing the hard-shelled soldier who knows what she is doing but ends up feeling vulnerable and scared like all the others — a very cliché character trait but still effective in this setting. Stokes also put on an impressive performance, playing the soldier who had never had any field experience but rose to be the leader his commanding officer knew he could be.
The other remotely enjoyable aspect of this movie was its action scenes. They were full of suspense, keeping audiences wondering if the soldiers would make it out alive. Despite the awkwardly placed songs during the more stealthy and action-packed scenes, they still added a little something new to the otherwise lackluster movie.
Other than the actors and their performances, there is nothing else notable about this movie. The pacing was incredibly inconsistent, and the writing did nothing to help it. It felt too rushed, with much of the story left behind and many questions unanswered. The 90-minute run time didn’t work well with the narrative, as it made the journey feel too short. The film needed more suspense or a greater sense of hopelessness, as it was obvious throughout that the team was going to make it home.
As for the writing, the characters lacked depth and dimension. Their motivations weren’t explored, making it harder to feel invested in their journey home. The audience doesn’t know much about Brockman’s background or the reasoning behind his anxieties, as there is nothing concrete about his story or the others’ and how they got where they are now in the movie. If there was more screen time,The writers could have had the time to give the characters more depth and have moments for the audience to be able to sympathize with them later on.
In a suspenseful military thriller, high stakes are a necessity, and it is almost always expected that there will be some sort of integral death or life-altering moment that follows for the characters who witness it. In “Valiant One,” these stakes were starkly missing, and when there were deaths, they were poorly executed. Insignificant characters met their demise too quickly, with most of the original team remaining to the end. Without this risk, there wasn’t that sense of winning, but also losing because they had lost friends during their journey.
Saying “Valiant One” was a mediocre experience would almost be generous, as it was nothing more than a bad movie with a couple of good quirks that made it a little more enjoyable to watch. The actors’ performances were this movie’s one redeeming quality, but they were subjected to horrible writing, rushed pacing and a lack of stakes.
When the team made it to the U.S. soldiers who had been waiting for them, there was no sense of satisfaction when the movie ended. Overall, the film had far too many problems and character holes for the audience to feel like they were satisfied with the hour and a half they spent watching “Valiant One.”
Jocelyn Cosgrove is an Arts & Entertainment Intern for the winter 2025 quarter. She can be reached at jmcosgro@uci.edu.
Edited by Alaina Retodo and Jaheem Conley.