Log in / Sign up
 
    Share this page

    Beyond the Mask

    Reviewed by
    adamwatchesmovies@

    My heart was broken while watching “Beyond the Mask”. It was broken because this isn’t a good movie, but it could have been, and it should have been. If you haven’t heard about it before now, it’s because this is an independently funded film, a real passion project. Funded partially through Kickstarter and put together by the Burns family (director Chad, production designer Nick, associate producer Tracey, producer Aaron), this is a period piece adventure-romance film. William Reynolds (Andrew Cheney) is an assassin working for the British Easy India Company. When he is betrayed after covering up their black deeds in India, he has with him the documents that will allow him to get his revenge on his former employer, particularly Charles Kemp (John Rhys-Davies), the head of the company. While hiding, he meets the lovely Charlotte Holloway (Kara Killmer) and falls in love with her. Torn between the need to keep his identity secret from the world, his lust for vengeance and his desire to be with Charlotte, he doesn’t know what to do. When he uncovers a plot by the E. I. C. to stop the American Revolution, he finds himself with a cause that will allow his conscience to be put at rest once and for all.

    I want to congratulate the Burns family on their film. You wouldn’t expect me to do so based on my low rating of the film, but let me explain. I happened upon this one by accident. I was at the theatre with some friends and we just randomly picked something to watch. I hadn’t heard anything about this flick so I only knew that it was put together on a budget of $4 million after I looked at some facts online. For what is a low-budget production, it looks amazing. It does not look cheap at all. The costumes are very nice, the sets are elaborate and the actors that have been cast are talented ones. This is no small feat because this is a period piece set in 1776, meaning they had to either do some extensive location scouting, or a lot of what you see was built from scratch. From what I can tell, this is also a first film from director Chad Burns and he shows some genuine talent with action sequences that are well choreographed and a general direction that is nothing like those bottom-of-the-barrel horror movies you find for $5 at the convenience store. The problems that this film has are completely unrelated to the budget. It’s a credit to “Beyond the Mask” that I am judging it on the same level as a big picture like I would “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” because it’s like putting a regular person next to an Olympic athlete and saying that it looks like a fair competition.

    Additionally, I think that as far as faith-based films, this is easily the best one I’ve seen. I’m referring to pictures like “Courageous” or “Joyful Noise” where the idea is to just have a movie where there are Christian characters and their faith slips in at crucial plot points throughout. Unlike those other pictures, I didn’t feel like “Beyond the Mask” did it in a way that was over-the-top and didn’t seem to push any kind of agenda. It just has a character that has a crisis of faith when he realizes what kind of horrors he has accomplished over a lifetime of cruelty. That seems like a realistic and human thing to happen and because it’s a period piece, it does not stand out as odd at all. I think people like Tyler Perry could learn a thing or two from this film.

    The costumes are gorgeous. The sets look great. We have some talented actors at work. The production is slick. Unfortunately there are moments where some amateurish mistakes are made and the plot itself is contrived. I don’t want to dog on the mistakes of Chad Burns too much, but it’s simple things here and there that you should have known to avoid in the first place, like having a scene in which we see a historical figure and we’re told who that person is by having a subtitle appear on-screen. Why not have the character just introduce himself to someone, like people do in real life?

    The main issue is the plot. Mostly it’s alright but there are some forced developments that could have been smoothed out. Throughout the film William fakes his death and fools the East India Company not once, but twice in a row and that could have easily been reduced to just once. Instead of having William go through the machinations of becoming a Vicar (which makes for some predictable scenes that hint at a general lack of intelligence on his part) just have him BE the vicar right from the beginning and have us learn what happened through flashbacks. The film gets really problematic when we arrive to America and it begins involving all kinds of nutty stuff. I don’t want to give away too much, but the reason why William has to aid the Colonials is because the plot against them is on the same level of absurdity as the one in “Jonah Hex” where technology that does not belong in this time period in brought in to do some doomsday-weapon shenanigans. This is where the writing gets clunky. It’s the kind of film where the villains get into a room and talk loudly about what their plan is going to be, even though they all know what is going to happen just so a character can listen in on them.

    It’s too bad the that the talents of writer Paul McCusker aren’t on the same level as the rest of the people involved in “Beyond the Mask” and that the Burns family didn’t have the experience to tighten some of the loose bits. Even with the limitations present, there’s no reason this couldn’t have been a film on the same level as a “The Mask of Zorro” (which it resembles at points), “The Count of Monte Cristo” or even a very good, but less supernatural “Pirates of the Caribbean”. We even have charismatic leads with good chemistry between them. Unless you’re actively looking to learn something about filmmaking, or you really want to support Faith-Based or family friendly films, I can’t really recommend it. If you’re an aspiring filmmaker though, this movie will inspire you because it looks like 100 million bucks and you’ll be able to take a lot of notes on what to do and what to avoid when you’re putting your own project together. “Beyond the Mask” does not measure up to the films it will be compared to, but considering it’s origin, it’s high praise that it is being lumped in the same category and the people involved (aside from the writer, who should have done better) should all be very proud of themselves. (Theatrical version on the big screen, August 18, 2015)

    4
    HelpfulNot helpful  Reply
    adamwatchesmovies@  22.8.2015 age: 26-35 2,866 reviews

    Show all reviews for this movie
    Note: The movie review posted on this page reflects a personal opinion of one user. We are not responsible for its content.

    Did you see ''Beyond the Mask''?

    There is a problem with your e-mail address and we are unable to communicate with you. Please go to My Account to update your email.

    How do you rate this movie?

    Select stars from 1 to 10.
    10 - A masterpiece, go, see it now
    9 - Excellent movie, a must see
    8 - Great movie, don't miss it
    7 - Good movie, worth seeing
    6 - Not bad, could be much better
    5 - So so, okay if you don't pay
    4 - Not good, even if you don't pay
    3 - Poor movie, not recommended
    2 - Very bad, forget about it
    1 - Worst ever, avoid at all costs

    Please explain. Write your comment here:

    Please choose a username to sign your comments. Only letters, digits, dash - or period. Minimum 4 characters.

    Your age and sex:

    We publish all comments, except abusive, at our discretion.