User reviews

Clean, gentle and sweet movie, good afternoon movie

Beyond the Mask is a cross between a bad Mills and Boon novella and an action adventure with churchy overtones.

The storyline behind this drama is predictable fare. Its been done to death and exhumed for this turgid tale of adventure, love and redemption. Redemption in this case has a decidedly religious quality to it that is both simplistic and patronizing. Think of those well scrubbed types who turn up on your doorstep from time to time hawking their narrow view of the universe and you are there.

The acting is hackneyed too but not entirely awful. I'm at a loss to see why John Rhys-Davies, an exceptional actor in most respects, signed up for this decidedly "B" grade fare.

In summary,Beyond the Mask is not dreadful but its hardly a quality production either. Its amateurish, preachy and more than a little corny. All in all I'd say this is a marginal watch at best. Four out of ten from me.

I really enjoyed this movie. It kind of reminded me of movies like National Treasure. Yes the film company that did this is is a "Christian film company", but it is not really preachy. The story is really not even a christian story. some reviews point out that what christian elements that are in the movie don't seem to fit. I kind of agree with this. You could take out the few and I mean few religious elements and have the same exact movie. So if your not a religious person don't worry, it's a fun action adventure film and they aren't trying to convert you.

A combination of El Zorro and Indiana Jones, this movie brings the history of the American Revolution to life. Family friendly.

Sometimes you really have to wonder at IMDb's review system. It is very obvious that either this movies production staff have been bigging it up or the reviewers who scored this amateurish production 10/10 have extremely low standards.

The first 5 minutes were 'ok' apart from the terrible cgi and I hoped it would pick up from there but alas 30 minutes in and I'm marvelling at how easy it is for people who can't act to get into a movie these days.

This is a very painful movie to watch. I can liken the acting to the sort of wooden performances given by children at a kindergarten nativity play. Of course a lot of the blame needs to go to the script writer..who is obviously independently wealthy or has friends with too much money and no idea what to do with it. A script like this should never get anywhere near a movie production.

As for the director Chad burns? well you only have to look at his resume to understand what went wrong there and his wife Angela(casting dept) didn't help matters much either.

Talking of cast, I don't think this bunch really gelled together. John Rhys-Davies seems to have made a career out of trying to carry budget films and TV series with varying degrees of success...didn't work in this case by the way. Kara Kilmer is not really leading lady stuff, at least not with a script like this and Andrew Chaney has only made two previous movies, both of which were not glowing examples of the craft and were obviously some sort of vanity vehicle, casting himself as lead in both cases. Nope, ain't happening. Extra or bit part player maybe but lead? I have no idea who funded this movie but given it's Christian overtones and the way religion in the USA is actively involved in promoting itself through 'good wholesome movies' I would not be surprised if this is yet another example of money over talent in the name of preaching the Christian gospel. Do yourselves and us a favour and leave movie making to those who know how to do it properly? If you have a couple of hours to kill....well, kill it somewhere else. This travesty of a movie is not worth the time or money.

My wife and I are Christians who home-school our four daughters. She wanted to see and support this movie as it was written by Christian home-schoolers.

While the acting and the visual effects were well done, they could not overcome the poor writing. While I understood this movie was an historically set fantasy/science fiction movie, I found there to be too many historical and scientific errors to overlook. I would have found the movie far more interesting, if there was an effort to be historically accurate where possible.

For me, the plot line felt as if two smart teenage boys were given an assignment to Google four things about the revolutionary war, then write a fictional story around those facts within 24 hours. I wanted to like the movie, but couldn't.

However, I must mention my wife enjoyed the movie as well my three daughters who went with us to see it.

This movie is an enjoyable Independence Day adventure. Looking at the low reviews (1-3 stars) others had for this movie, I am not sure what those folks were expecting. This movie is a swashbuckling "superhero" romp set during the beginnings of the Revolutionary War just prior to the Declaration of Independence. It is a solid blend of Batman, National Treasure, and Pirates of the Caribbean. Considering it was not a major studio production with a giant IP-backed budget, it has likeable characters (including the villains), well-paced action and intrigue, good music, and a great look (I personally liked the special effects for how colonial Philadelphia looked, the science stuff, etc).

Simply put, I think the cast and crew made a good movie. Don't expect award-winning performances or detailed history; just let yourself enjoy the story and the characters and go along for the ride. I am not sure what the negative review comments regarding the "Christian message" were all about, either. I found them sufficient for the main character's story. Overall, I think this movie delivers what it intended. It's a good movie for July 4th...or any other day you are in the mood for a different historical action-adventure movie. I hope this review helped. Enjoy!

I rented this movie online and at first I was curious and intrigued by the trailer but the disappointment fell really quick after 10 minutes watching it. The romance is suppressing and rigid, I will suggest either go all the way like 'Pride and Prejudice' or the extreme sexy/ love in 'The Tudors' . The action scene is confusing and certainly not exciting, especially I couldn't identify the servants worked for either the good side or the bad side (for some reason, there isn't any differences). It is quite a predictable story but the plots keeps jumping / certain scenes being shorten / inconsistency of the scenes in this feature, they are all confusing. I see the credits style is similar to 'Sherlock Holmes'(the one directed by Guy Ritchie), the music director/ producer seems to attempt to create a combination of 'Pirates of the Caribbean' and 'Emma' which is not a good idea. It is like too much going on in the feature and I couldn't focus not even on the lead actor/tress. However, I do have to say, well spent on the sets, costumes and lots of extras which proved the director really made some efforts there. The lead actor is quite motionless and not in the character from my point of view(as an audience).

Overall, quite disappointed with this feature.

I really liked the Zorro, swashbuckling, Wild Wild West vibe of this film (though John Rhys-Davies, while very good as the villain was no Michael Dunn).

There were a few significant downsides; those being all of the religious nonsense, some badly choreographed fight scenes, and the time in England was, for the most part, slow moving.

However, once things moved to the colonies, things picked up considerably and we were treated to rollicking good time. I also, liked that the female lead was not relegated to the damsel in distress role.

Sort of like a comic book superhero version of How America Won Its Independence, "Beyond the Mask" features Andrew Cheney as a British assassin named William Reynolds who goes to the colonies to help wage war against the Empire, as a means of demonstrating to his true love (Kara Killmer) that, despite his checkered past, he's really just a decent guy under it all. While in the new world, he becomes a masked figure known as The Highwayman, who rides around at night securing victories for the fledgling rebels while hiding his identity behind a black mask. And, yes, it's every bit as dopey as it sounds. (William Reynolds was, apparently, an actual person but little in his biography matches anything that happens on screen).

A monument to inanity, "Beyond the Mask" lacks even the polish and professionalism of a junior high school civics project. Its portrayal of the personalities and events of the time is laughable at best, with a plot to blow up Philadelphia using Benjamin Franklin's own idea for electricity against him serving as the climactic stupidity. Luckily, Mr. Reynolds, scoundrel that he is, is on hand to thwart the dastardly deed with his heroism and his purity of heart.

And that, dear children, is how the Americans came to win their independence from England.

In more gifted hands, "Beyond the Mask" might have been a fun, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink kind of lark, a harmless little bit of absurd revisionism designed to make history entertaining for the masses. But, sad to say, everything about the movie - from the script to the directing to the acting - is so terrible that there's actually precious little fun to be had.

Felt like watching National Treasure. Entire family loved it

Good visual quality. OK historical background. OK direction and acting. OK dialogs. Watching while eating and texting.

It seems the writers and producers simply made this thing up as they filmed it. The logical and historical incongruities are astonishing. I really wonder why this was made and where they got the funding. The plot seems to simply be written around a hack Jesus redemption theme. It gives us Christians an annoyingly bad reputation. Maybe God allows this stuff simply to keep us humble.

About the only thing "redemptive" in this film is the superb acting by John Rhys-Davies. The man is a true talent. Most of the other acting is pretty mediocre. There are a few good sets and costumes, and the music was okay, but there was just some very amateurish elements. A group of flute-playing soldiers marching in step down an extremely staged Philadelphia street? I can just hear the director saying "Everybody act real colonist-like!"

If you don't get too tired of near constant eye-rolling, punctuated now and then with open-mouthed stupefaction, then I guess this is entertaining enough, but don't judge Christianity based on this tripe.

This is a low budget movie (not that $4M are to be considered as a low budget per se) with unknown to me actors with the exception of Indiana Jones's iconic actor John Rhys-Davies (who may actually look better in his 70s).

Anyway this is an uneven movie, and by that I mean that, because of its ambition, it excels in some of its aspects and fails miserably to other.

Music has an epic Zimmer-ish feeling and sets the tone right especially when the hero goes to America. It is obviously sampled orchestras but it has the volume and the feel that you would expect from a major movie.

The editing is stellar too. A couple of fights in the beginning of the film, like inside a carriage and later in a small hut, were edited superbly and mask the otherwise lame fight choreography. Usually a shaken camera and fast edits ruin any effort for a decent fight, that looks eventually fake, but in this the result is beyond expectation.

The acting though is really, really bad. Even laughable. The 2 leads Andrew Cheney and Kara Killmer give performances for the Golden Raspberry Awards. I thought for a moment that I was watching a rehearsal from "The dancing cavalier" (Singin' in the Rain (1952)). The other actors (with the exception of Davies) give abysmal performances too.

The CGI are terrible and unnatural. I understand that it was necessary to give the impression of a big film (ships of the 17th century, zoom-in aerial shots etc.) but they had the opposite result.

The plot is good enough. The costumes nice. So you end up with an uneven film... I don't hate it. I found it cute here and there but maybe it would be better to pursuit a milder less ambitious goal and make better use of their budget...

So, I watched this movie because a church friend told me about it and got me the DVD for Christmas. Some friends of hers were actually in the movie and helped finance it. Which is cool and all, but I was bored the ENTIRE time. I don't remember any of it now, except for it relating to the Revoluntary War.

I didn't like it, and it was forgettable. I'd rather watch something like The Patriot or 1776 for a movie on The Revolutionary War. There's also the Disney movie Johnny Tremain.

I'd write more if I could, but I literally can't. I just don't recommend this at all. Zero stars. Thanks for reading.

March 19, 2015 Beyond the Mask Critique by Matthew Phillips

Having watched every video provided to me as a Theater Captain, I felt my take on Beyond the Mask both as a movie and a medium for communicating the Gospel message very sound and my gitty enthusiasm warranted.

So, you might understand, how elated I was to be given an opportunity to view the full movie one time on Monday, March 16, 2015. I really felt privileged and honored to be given this consideration.

My expectations caused me to view the movie with great anticipation and hopefulness. I admit to a measured bias going into it. The previews and interviews and behind the scenes videos all depicted a professional, high definition adventure that would leave me wanting more and more.

The acting in Beyond the Mask left nothing to search for anywhere in Hollywood. The actors were believable and exquisitely competent. That combined with the fantastic computer graphics and cinematography set me in the time and circumstance of the late 1770's. A visual treat, spectacularly done lead me to a feast of color and a smorgasbord of action and romance that my senses embraced with tremendous pleasure.

At the end of the day though, a movie must tell a story. The story provides the frame on which all the other components rest and find their adhesion. It was here, at the telling of the story, that Beyond the Mask falls sharply from grace. Both in continuity and character development, Beyond the Mask left me with too many questions. I felt the writers expected me to know the answer to these questions so they purposefully left out the background information I needed to put the pieces together.

Remove only a few bones from the skeleton of a body and though still filled with muscle and covered with skin, that body will slump and sag at wherever point the removed bones no longer support its area. So it is with Beyond the Mask. It drops from moments of brilliance to lows of mediocrity like a ship being tossed on a tumultuous sea of infacility. To meet its potential both writing and directing needed to rise to its height. Unfortunately, neither met the challenge with complete success.

To ask the Christian Community to support and refer this film in its current condition seems a bit like a congregation being asked to keep a pastor because he's the cousin of the head deacon. Even though he fails in visitation, reads his sermons and drowns people in the baptismal, the congregation must support and refer him to others. OK, that's a bit unfair. But, you get the point. We're being asked to support fantastic CGI and superb acting absent equally superb and excellent storytelling simply because its Christian based. We, as Christians, must hold our highest praise and support for that which deserves it, not seeing either our loyalty to our brethren nor our need for excellence compromised in the giving of that praise and support.

Speaking of being Christian based. Beyond the Mask did present solid and believable episodic tangibility on the concepts of forgiveness and redemption. It truly moved me. However, at the one point where the opportunity arose to present the Gospel message with clarity and plausibility as the main character was forced to face his inability to achieve the change he so desired, the writers and director decided to let it pass without much attention. We, once again, find ourselves forced to know the Gospel message, its impact and residual effect once Jesus takes our name and give us His. I found myself unsettled by the lack of willingness to present the Gospel message with the whole movie designed to lead me to that one moment!

Beyond the Mask achieves a great deal in areas where other Christian movies fail. However, it undermines and insulates where other Christian movies succeed. With the characters better defined and the story more definitively told, Beyond the Mask would out achieve the best Hollywood has to offer. I am saddened to say - as presented - it falls short of that goal.

This is the fantasy American Revolutionary War's Zorro, or Batman, or whoever it is that exacts vengeance on the crooked British con man and saves the good patriotic or near patriotic. The problem is This super hero isn't quite super enough. He even looks dull like he's trying to figure out what is going on or what to do next. Want to talk plot holes? This is a sieve. But it's action scenes are fun enough if you don't take it too serious.

A well-made adventure yarn but I have to agree with other reviewers about the religious proselytizing. These preachy moments are so obvious and take you out of the story. Old saying: if you want to send a message call western union.

Beyond the Mask is an entertaining movie for the whole family. This is not your typical "Christian movie". A common perception of Christian movies is that of a low budget, poor acting, poor directing, poor camera work, poor storyline, and very preachy. I often dislike Christian movies for those very reasons. "Beyond the Mask" surprised me in all of the categories listed above. It's budget was used wisely, the acting wasn't extraordinary, but it was good enough to keep a casual viewer entertained. The camera work, although not mind blowing, was good. The storyline, although a tad unbelievable, was interesting and fun, and I never felt as if I was listening to a cinema sermon. The fight scenes (more accurately labeled "confrontation scenes"), left much to be desired. The choreography was lackluster at best, and the "fights" didn't hold any true tension. There were also far too many cut scenes to make up for poor fighting. The saving grace for the fight scenes were the editors. The editors managed to take the poor choreography and stunts and edit them into something watchable. I feel as though the story could have been strengthened, expanded, and deepened through the fight scenes if they only had better choreography and stunts. All in all, if you're looking for an entertaining movie with a good message and not a lot of violence, this will do just fine. Just don't analyze it too much, otherwise you'll find holes.

After reading so many bad reviews I didn't expect much, but I was pleasantly surprised. I guess the reason for most negative reviews here is "mistargeted" audience. I see many people were expecting something similar to "Ben-Hur" or "Gone with the Wind", when in fact this movie is more like "Wild Wild West", "The Brothers Grimm", and "Van Helsing". The only difference is that it's not a blockbuster, and the only famous actor in it is John Rhys-Davis.

I was still amazed at some negative reviews, let's see what reviewers are complaining about: 1. Erratic plot. - I think the plot is simple, shallow and very predictable, but it is logical and doesn't have major loopholes. I think "Van Helsing" has more loopholes than this, but it's just my humble opinion. 2. Church theme. - Seriously, I didn't really see that. There is one place where main characters pray before execution, but that's it. There are blockbusters out there that have many more religious references than this movie. 3. Historical inaccuracies - come on! Do you expect historical references from "Sherlock Holmes" with Robert Downey Jr.? Or "National Treasure"? This movie is a fairy tale/victorian steampunk/alternative reality flick, not a historical movie. 4. Bad CGI. - blockbusters really set high expectations with people. This movie has low budget so it does OK with what it has. 5. Bad storytelling. I agree with that, storytelling is rather weak, could use more twists and be more "punchy".

I also think the issue with this movie is that main characters (William and Charlotte) are not "sparkling" enough. They should have shown more expression in both love and war. It would also help if William was more cunning, but he was too straightforward and naive instead. John Rhys-Davies was OK as a main villain.

But again, to jump from B-movie to A-movie you need to tighten up everything, from storyline, characters and special effects to budget and casting. Still, it's a nice entertaining B-movie, and if you like movies like "Van Helsing" or "The Brothers Grimm" or "Wild Wild West", and your expectations are not too high, give it a try, you might like it.

I found the movie delightful. I wasn't expecting a historically accurate movie and nothing I read about the movie made me think it would be. One review degradated the acting and I thought the acting was good. It's not a big budget film with a list actors and I wasn't expecting that.

I raised my review from a 6 to a 7 Because I'm frustrated with the low reviews about it not being historically accurate. It's not intended to be historically accurate and I am putting in information that AI provided Historical FICTION: The movie, while set during the American Revolution, is not a literal retelling of events.

Based on True Events: The film incorporates elements and alludes to historical events and figures, like the attempt on George Washington's life and plots to sabotage bridges, but these details are consolidated and fictionalized.

NOT A DOCUMENTARY: The filmmakers acknowledge that "Beyond the Mask" is not a documentary, but rather a fictionalized historical drama.

Focus on Faith and Story: The film prioritizes faith and narrative over strict historical accuracy, using CGI to enhance the viewer's experience.

Inspired by Homeschooling: The movie was inspired by the homeschool education of the co-writers, Aaron and Chad Burns, who read and analyzed literature, biography, historical fiction, and culture.