Beckman

You like action? It has action, some right at the start so your attention span stays intact. Pretty good action too I might add. You like a good story arc? Well, it's alright, hitman turned preacher rescuing a girl from a spiritual guru with some underworld intertwinings. If Baldwin's cult was fleshed out more earlier on it would have been better. He's not really much of a menacing villain, he's a bit of a pacifist but could at least been more threatening psychologically. The padding out of the story between the action makes it just average, the potential was dropped.

As a faith-based film, taking into account that this is an action thriller and dips into Christian themes, I thought the film was good. Actors David White, William Baldwin, and Jeff Halley delivered great performances. The action scenes were very good.. but you will notice that all the action scenes take place in a home, warehouse, etc. and you never once see a car chase with vehicles being damaged, shot at, colliding with one another, etc. which leads into realizing the filmmakers had a limited budget for the film.

I am a Christian, and I used to be a filmmaker that made a faith-based police drama called "Streets of Harvest" and a faith-based supernatural horror film called "The Great Altar." I feel at times we try so hard to push the gospel message into these movies without realizing who are target audience is. (Example: We want to speak the language of the culture to reach the unsaved, but we constantly create a product that only speaks to members of the local church) Well.... Why bother saying you're trying to reach the unsaved if your only audience is Christians? I'm not discrediting these films, but I feel a lot of Christian movies are like that including "God's Not Dead," "War Room," "Facing The Giants" and "Heaven Is For Real," where the film is only catering to the Sunday morning church crowd, and leaves several non-believers turned off.

With "Beckman" I feel this is a good example, at the very least, a step in the right direction to make a faith-based film that appeals to non-Christians without coming across as too preachy. So because of that, I enjoyed this film.

My issues are that, and hopefully I'm wrong, but I feel "Beckman" will only be remembered as a rip off of 'John Wick,' and 'Taken.' If you're looking for originality, you won't find it here, which is sad because there was an opportunity for this to be original and not just a copycat of other action thrillers. Even the pacing for this film, and the way it's edited, makes you feel like they were trying really hard to copy 'John Wick.' Because of this, some viewers may watch 30 minutes of it, then try to find something else to watch or say, "y'know, i'd rather watch John Wick 3 rather than this."

This is just my opinion, but maybe this would make a better plot for a faith-based film, maybe even a sequel or spinoff: Eric Beckman is an assassin who abandons the network, becomes a devout Christian / reverend at his local church, but the agency tracks him down and takes both his adopted daughter and church staff hostage; saying that unless he completes one more assignment, they'll kill his daughter and staff, and he's put into a circumstance where he feels he's going against God, but he also wants no harm to come to his congregation. This leads him on a mission to rescue his daughter, hide his church staff and ultimately going after the higher ups of the Network. Yeah, it may seem cliche, but at the very least, you're not deliberately copying what another filmmaker did.

Anyway, I still believe this is a film worth seeing. Give it a shot rather than passing on it because it seems like a copycat. If you're like me, you're proud of your Christian faith, and you love action thrillers, you should see it. It will have its detractors, but I think it's still worth seeing.

Overview: Beckman (2020) is an action-packed film that delivers intense fight sequences and a revenge-driven storyline. The film revolves around Aaron Beckman, a former hitman who turns his life around and becomes a pastor, only to be pulled back into his violent past when his adopted daughter is kidnapped by a dangerous cult. While the premise is intriguing, the movie leans more towards action than thriller, with some moments lacking the suspense needed to elevate it to a standout genre film.

Strengths & Limitations: The action sequences are well-choreographed, and the film succeeds in portraying the emotional conflict of its protagonist. However, the thriller aspect feels underdeveloped, which may leave some viewers wanting more tension and depth in the narrative. For someone who enjoys action films, Beckman is a decent one-time watch, but it doesn't break new ground in its genre. The movie leaves room for a sequel, but it may not generate the anticipation needed for viewers to eagerly await the continuation.

Final Thoughts: Beckman is an average film that works as a straightforward revenge story but doesn't fully capitalize on its potential. For fans of action films, it's entertaining enough for a casual watch but might fall short for those seeking a gripping thriller. Overall, it earns a 5/10, primarily for its action and a solid central performance.

For those who like suspense and action movies, check this out for sure! There's plenty of movies like this that are just empty shoot em up, chase the bad guys, blah, blah, blah junk. This movie has the drama, action and suspense along with a good spiritual message. A must see for all!

Have you ever had a question about something that happened on screen and thought to yourself "you know what would answer that? Punching and shooting!" If so, this is the movie for you! There is no plot hole, poorly written dialogue, or weakly developed character that can't be solved with a silly hand-to-hand combat, or shoot-out. Having said that, this isn't a 1 star movie. One star movies make me mad at them. I compulsively have to finish a movie, once started, so truly terrible movies make me furious at them for wasting my time. This is a silly, brainless, fun little romp to watch with your friends for a larf. Don't misunderstand me, it is by no means a good movie. It sets up the story with short ~90 second clips in the very beginning of the movie, which is completely unnecessary. It also spends zero time with natural, or even passably good dialogue, and only volunteers sentence tidbits that advance the shaky plot. Every fight or shooting scene features people fumbling to find a trigger, or their fists to give the protagonist a chance to fight everyone one by one. This movie also features the all-too-familiar "hero gets shot, stabbed, breaks both legs, looses his sight, or gets set on fire" only to go about his business with a slight limp. I would be reminisced if I didn't mention that I would have picked up on exactly ZERO religious anything throughout this movie. Reading the other reviews, and looking at the protagonist's other IMDB credits, I see that he has apparently contributed a lot of Christian (pro Christian) content. This must have been a conscious deviation, because this movie has no proselytizing whatsoever. Really and truly, there is no more religious undertones in this film, than in Winnie The Pooh (that is to say, none at all.) Watch this with you buds (of any gender) and make a drinking game of it. It's silly, not terrible.