User Reviews

Fail.

What do you get when you mix Plan 9 with Daniel the Wizard? While it would have more holes than Titanic: The Legend Goes On, it would still beat Jimmy Valiant. Seriously, I don't know where to begin this review! I'm sitting here with an extremely bad taste in my mouth, but instead of mouthwash, they give me brainwash. I am usually kind to indie films, but this "movie" was literally so bad I wish I could give it *no* stars. Did they even try to make a good film? What were they thinking? The effects reminded me of Limburger soaked in Velveeta – cheesy and smelly. The audio was so poorly mixed I wouldn't be surprised if Thomas Edison himself recorded it using a phonograph in an old closet. And ohhhhhhhh! The story. Or lack thereof. A class of kindergärtners with crayons could have made a better screenplay. The actors? Said kindergärtners would put them to shame. Seriously.

I guess this film would have been alright if the filmmakers *actually tried to make a movie.*. A cheap, corny James Bond rip-off? Sure. If only they had aimed for mediocrity I would have been OK. But no, they missed mediocrity, they even missed bad and instead hit fail dead center. Horrendous lack of quality aside, the story had so many racist and anarchist themes that it rendered the movie unwatchable. Adolph Hitler would be a better role model for racial equality. They are so totally clueless to government that for all we know Congress is comprised of evil shape-shifting moon bears from the constellation Draco who are destroying America with chainsaw arms! Again, *fail.* Jimmy, the hero we are supposed to admire, has a suit whiter than Mitt Romney in a snowstorm and a personality as shallow as an empty coke can. The verdict? I would rather watch my grandmother eat my dog, rather watch butterflies go extinct, rather watch the world run out of Dr Pepper than watch Jimmy Valiant. Trust me, if you have any desire to watch this movie at all, *Do Not!* Go get therapy and counseling, maybe take up knitting, but stay far, far away from this no-good piece of crap.

Recently, radical fundamentalist homeschoolers (under the leadership of Doug Philips and others) have set out to change the way things are done in the film industry. Dissatisfied with the secular movie industry, their desire is to overthrow Hollywood (like David and Goliath) and establish their own media studio corporation. (yes, I have heard these teachings myself) Usually, however, they lack the talent, resources, skill, professionalism, and well, general know-how to make a decent film. As anyone who has seen films such as Pendragon or, well, Jimmy Valiant can testify, these sort of films tend to be painfully preachy, low budget, and sloppily made, with friends and family serving as actors.

Nowhere is this more painfully proved than in Jimmy Valiant.

When I first saw the trailer, I was like, "Hey awesome! A new action film! Let's check it out." At a homeschool conference movie night, I went in to watch it, and left with a throbbing head. Where was I supposed to begin to describe just how bad the movie was? So, I organized my thoughts and came up with the major flaws in the movie.

1. The quality was low

The overall impression that I got from the film was that it was not finished. T. Nathaniel Darnell, the film's maker explained, "We're trying to get support in this. If we can get funding, we can continue to make these." Maybe you should try to get funding before you begin, Mr. Darnell. And then maybe you should hire decent actors, get a nice camera, and don't have your friends make the special effects. The story really needed help, too. It was way confusing and hard to follow, and would have made Syd Field or Robert McKee shudder in horror.

2. It was horribly preachy

Agenda. That's the word that came to mind as I watched it. The whole point of the movie revolves around a "holier-than-thou," pro-homeschool, anti-government, anti-state senator, who is trying to stop the "evil" truant officers from taking homeschool children from their homes. The bad guys want him dead, and Jimmy has to stop them. I read one of Darnell's books, and noticed that it and the movie have several similar ideals: That government is evil. That we have the right to disobey the government, as long as we are doing what we think God would want. Great going, Jimmy.

3. It was racist

It sickened me to see the characters in this film. There are two main bad guys in the movie; and Arab and a Hispanic man. They, of course, are evil and will stop at nothing to kill the "righteous, godly, homeschool father" who is white. The unspoken message that shouted in the silence was that Americans are the good guys, while Arabs and Mexicans are evil. How horrible is that? On that ground alone is the movie rendered unwatchable in my mind.

I hope that I have not been to biased in this review. Trust me, I went to watch it with an open mind, actually excited to see it. But when I saw the cheesy quality, agenda, and racism dripping from the film, I did not feel so thrilled.

Hopefully you won't, either.

Young men look up to heroes. In days of old, the heroes of young men were the godly older men who had come before them, and before their fathers. Men like the apostle Paul, George Washington, Winston Churchill, Stonewall Jackson, and many others. All flawed men (heroes tend to be that way), but also good men. Men who stood for what was right against great odds.

Sadly, in the past few years, we've seen a change in heroes. Now, the "heroes" this generation looks up to are sports figures, actors, musicians, and even fictional characters from popular films. These people tend to give young men a false sense of heroism, especially when you consider that they often live very immoral live driven by pride, lust, and greed.

Enter Jimmy Valiant. He's flawed, but then again, we all are. And while he starts out living for himself, throughout the film he grows to realize that it is not his duty to deal out God's judgment on all his foes, but that vengeance truly is God's.

Action, Adventure, and Real Heroes: As I mentioned earlier, heroes have been going downhill for quite some time, and there's no better place to see that than in the movie theater. Independent Christian Filmmakers have made great strides in many areas and genres, but one genre that we haven't fully attacked yet is the action/thriller film. As a young man, I know that is one of the film genres that speaks strongest to men. Sure, a good love story can be inspiring (particularly to you ladies out there), but quite frankly, I'd rather see a good hero take out the evil bad guys any day. Apparently, Nathaniel Darnell feels the same way.

And thus, Jimmy Valiant was born. Both Nathaniel Darnell and his co-producer, Nathan Barns, are dedicated to raising the bar for Independent Christian Filmmaking and discipling young men through the action/thriller genre. Jimmy Valiant: Scions of Danger is their first step into that arena.

True Heroism: The message of this film is that true heroism starts with the heart. As he goes through this exciting adventure, Jimmy Valiant learns that he cannot be a law unto himself, because ultimately, God is the one who rules this world and punishes evil doers.

Besides having several excellent themes, Jimmy Valiant: Scions of Danger, is also completely clean. No unwholesome language, no immorality, no gratuitous violence (more on that later), nothing to offend! The film is also well done technically speaking, with the visual effects from The Effects Forge being especially good.

There will always be bad guys: Quite frankly, there's very little for me to say against the film. That's refreshing! I've watched so many films that when I get to this section, the hard part is choosing what to say and what to gloss over, but with Jimmy Valiant, I almost left this section out! I will mention however, that there is a bit of violence and some families may be uncomfortable with it, especially if they have young children. It's not over-the-top, nor is it gratuitous, but this is an action film, and some people do get beat up, and at least one is killed.

The only other thing I'll mentions is this: keep in mind that this film is actually a pilot episode for a 13-episode series that will be produced if enough interest and funding can be generated. As such, it can be a bit rough around the edges at times, and some of my family found the plot a bit hard to follow. Hopefully this will change when the full series is released and the story is expanded.

End Game: Overall, this was a good action film that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to action lovers everywhere. The story was well-paced, the fight sequences believable, and the dialogue completely clean! It can be streamed online for only $3.99 or bought on DVD for $12* from Persevero Films.