Prisoner of War Review: Adkins Takes No Prisoners

Louis Mandylor’s Prisoner of War is a cheesy and exciting war and martial arts picture featuring a game Scott Adkins.

The movie starts with a prologue that shows war pilot James Wright (Adkins) visiting a dojo during the 1940s, and kicking the butt of a bunch of martial arts students. Then, he talks to their master, who happens to be the son of someone James used to know. That’s where Prisoner of War flashes back a couple of months, with James crash landing on an island in Southeast Asia, and being captured by a group of Japanese soldiers.

It turns out the island is being controlled by Leftenant Colonel Ito (Peter Shinkoda), a bloodthirsty and violent tyrant who enjoys taking prisoners and making them battle each other in an arena. Unfortunately for him, James is an amazing fighter, which means he ends up beating every opponent that ends up standing in his way. But surprisingly, Ito doesn’t want to kill him. He actually makes him work for him, which allows James to make some friends at camp. There’s Villanueva (Michael Copon), stoic Captain Collins (Donald Cerrone), and even the appropriately bearded Beardy (Michael Rene Walton), who happens to speak some Japanese. With their help, James starts to plan his escape, and even an eventual defeat of Ito and his men.

Even though Prisoner of War is a low-budget and independent affair, director Louis Mandylor (the brother of Saw star Costas Mandylor) makes the most of his limited resources, allowing the film to feel bigger than it actually is. It helps that most of it was shot on location, and that they seem to have enough extras, suitably realistic costumes and interesting sets for the whole experience to feel gritty and tangible. There’s not a lot of CGI, with most of it reserved for aerial shots of war planes (which look good enough), and a green screen shot that surprisingly doesn’t feel very out of place.

The result, then, is a war movie that focuses on a contained group of people and their problems with a very aggressive enemy. The fact that Prisoner of War doesn’t have to show extensive battle scenes or bombings works in its favour. Thus, as a story that takes place mainly in one location, it works without feeling claustrophobic or cheap. And it certainly helps that most of its characters are interesting enough, without being particularly three-dimensional.

This is the kind of movie that should be taken at face value; not as a complex meditation on the nature of violence or the political and social complexities of World War 2, but as an entertaining martial arts picture that features Adkins as an invincible killing machine. I’m not exaggerating when I say that his James Wright is pretty much unbeatable, which admittedly makes the whole affair feel less suspenseful than I would’ve wanted. Even when he gets tortured by Ito, he manages to stand up and beat a couple of his enemies. And even when he ends up wounded and tired, he manages to recover quickly and get back into action.

Most of the film’s suspense, then, is derived from the potential fates of his mates. We know James isn’t dying (we see him alive and literally kicking during the prologue, after all), but we’re not as certain about his friends. And it helps that most of them are recognisable archetypes, with Beardey being the most interesting. Moreover, James manages to also make friends with a couple of South Asian prisoner nurses, which tells us something about the way the Japanese acted against not only the West but also other Asian countries during World War 2. Thankfully, though, Ito’s characterisation as a villain (violent, sadistic) doesn’t feel like a stereotypical representation of a whole nation, but as an exception to the rule. He is, after all, grasping at straws; acting as evilly as possible because he knows both the war and his tyranny are about to come to an end.

What about the action, though? If Prisoner of War works, it’s because Mandylor shoots the fights and shootouts with energy and style, moving his camera with intent, and never making use of over-the-top shaky cam or disorienting fast cuts. Additionally, the combats themselves are impressively choreographed, featuring actors (including Adkins, of course) who know what they’re doing, and look good while kicking, punching and making some amazing moves. Hits feel (and sound) crunchy, and although there could’ve been more blood, this being an R-rated feature and all, the violence is brutal enough for the movie not to feel sanitised or censored. In fact, I appreciate that the worst acts of violence (such as beheadings) occur out of frame. Sometimes, implying something is better than showing it explicitly.

I wasn’t expecting much from Prisoner of War, which is maybe why it ended up pleasantly surprising me. You shouldn’t watch this film expecting anything particularly complex or nuanced. This is a story about heroes and villains; about super-efficient soldiers going against violent antagonists, and about well-choreographed fights and bloody acts of violence. It’s the perfect kind of vehicle for Adkins, who, by now, should be appearing in more big-budget productions. He’s good enough at both action and traditional acting that he shouldn’t look out of place in more commercial fare.

Prisoner of War is now available to watch in theatres and on digital platforms in the U.S.. The film will be released for digital download in the U.K. on October 6.

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