‘Valiant One’ Review: No-Nonsense Action-Thriller About U.S. Soldiers Trapped in North Korea Gets the Job Done
variety.comRichard Kuipers An unpretentious B-movie made with A-grade effort, “Valiant One” packs decent action and mostly sturdy drama into the tale of U.S.
soldiers whose mission near the DMZ goes haywire and leaves them stranded in North Korea. The first film directed by longtime producer and production executive Steve Barnett (“300”) doesn’t add anything to the “trapped behind enemy lines” playbook but does offer a pacy combination of well-executed combat scenes and reluctant-hero drama that should play especially well with military movie buffs.
Boasting solid central performances by Chase Stokes (“Outer Banks” series) and Lana Condor (“To All the Boys” films), “Valiant One” opens in limited U.S.
cinemas on Jan. 31. “Valiant One” is the kind of mid-size action movie we’ve seen much less of in commercial theatrical release since these straight-to-streaming days began.
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