06/07/2017
Review: Beyond The Mask.
http://www.beyondthemaskmovie.com/
William Reynolds (Andrew Cheney) is forced to give up his dark life of assassination and espionage when he has a falling out with his employer, and moves from one adventure to the next in quest of his true love Charlotte Holloway (Kara Killmer). In the course of his travels, he ends up smack dab in the middle of the events unfolding in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776, and in the presence of one General Washington.
We were blessed to watch this wonderful, no holds barred film recently, and we were honestly taken aback by the quality of the production. We didn't expect for a low budget film to have accomplished so much in the way of period sets, wardrobe, makeup, props and atmosphere. For $4 million? It's positively a miracle. The scope of the English and American sets was fantastic! Everything was totally immersive, and nothing ever popped out to remove us from this wonderful fantasy.
We read a couple of the reviews about it, and as expected they were a little harsh. The film did start out at a moderate pace, but that's no different than most period films which take extra time to set up the premise and characters. It worked up to a very robust pace rather quickly, and definitely had something for everyone. There was a tasteful, respectful romance, as well as political intrigue, mystery, espionage, swashbuckling adventure, military-type raids and shootouts, melee duels and break-neck speed action.
The romance between the two main characters was wonderful, respectful, and invigorating. It is so, because we rarely see a romance done right, without the heaviness of physical contact, focusing primarily on spiritual and emotional growth of and maturity of William Reynolds (Andrew Cheney) to rise up to be worthy of courting Charlotte Holloway (Kara Killmer). It was refreshing to see it done so tastefully.
I think my favorite character was Benjamin Franklin's, and his unique electrostatic inventions. This movie is candy for period techies and steam punk fans. The props used on this production were fantastic!
We watched this film for quite a while before it even hinted to the fact that it's a Christian film. In fact, if a viewer isn't really looking for it, it wouldn't really pop out at any time until close to the ending. I think that's one of the most powerful aspects of this type of Christian filmmaking: that it doesn't put the producers' belief system (Strong Biblical World View) front and center, but lets it motivate the action in a gentle manner until the time is right, and then naturally introduces it as a coherent component of the plot. We are fans of either type of film, the one that is clearly faith-based from the opening titles, and the one that holds back and lets it come out organically. It's all good, and it all serves the Kingdom.
Overall, we were very happy to have spent time watching this excellent film.
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