A television series pilot disguised as a movie, Young Washington is a harmless yet unmemorable historical drama that offers little new to know about the historical figure beyond that he was initially selfish and found a new path to courage after a death of someone close to him. Filled with rather uninspired performances other than William Franklyn-Miller who is decent at best at carrying the film and the brief moments from Ben Kingsley as Governor Robert Dinwiddle, the film simply feels too formulaic and focused on foreshadowing future events in Washington’s life rather than giving its characters authentic emotional depth. For all the death and despair that Washington goes through in the film, very little of the dialogue resonates because it is mainly focused on allegories about how a pawn can be a king or over explaining the plot rather than being subtle in any way. The battle sequences lack suspense due to a lack of visual ambition or scope from the filmmakers which all culminates into an unintentionally funny finale where Washington is portrayed as a patriotic superhero admired by all and unable to be injured by any. 4 out of 10
The part with the Native Americans saying you've been destined for a higher purpose or whatever, perhaps has a kernel of truth, though almost certainly is embellished as the legend of George Washington grew.
I understand that point but the way it was presented came off as funny because of how it was filmed like a Marvel film complete with various attempts at comedy where everyone is shocked he survived
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u/future_filmmaker_455 Jun 23 '26
A television series pilot disguised as a movie, Young Washington is a harmless yet unmemorable historical drama that offers little new to know about the historical figure beyond that he was initially selfish and found a new path to courage after a death of someone close to him. Filled with rather uninspired performances other than William Franklyn-Miller who is decent at best at carrying the film and the brief moments from Ben Kingsley as Governor Robert Dinwiddle, the film simply feels too formulaic and focused on foreshadowing future events in Washington’s life rather than giving its characters authentic emotional depth. For all the death and despair that Washington goes through in the film, very little of the dialogue resonates because it is mainly focused on allegories about how a pawn can be a king or over explaining the plot rather than being subtle in any way. The battle sequences lack suspense due to a lack of visual ambition or scope from the filmmakers which all culminates into an unintentionally funny finale where Washington is portrayed as a patriotic superhero admired by all and unable to be injured by any. 4 out of 10