Movie Review: ‘Prisoner Of War’

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Prisoner of War is a martial arts action film set largely in the middle of World War 2. It has pretty good fight choreography and a decent, albeit paper thin, story. I somewhat enjoyed it overall, but I doubt it will leave a lasting impression on me after I finish writing this. Bigger fans of Scott Adkins will probably enjoy it far more.

The film opens in Tokyo 1950 with Wing Commander James Wright (Scott Adkins) entering Ito Dojo looking for a man he claims he knew during the war, Lt. Col. Benjiro Ito (Peter Shinkoda), the father of the dojo owner. After a brief discussion and a quick fight scene showing off Wright’s martial arts skills, the movie flashes back to the Bataan Peninsula (or Penninsula as the movie’s title card reads) in April of 1942. So, any chance for suspense is virtually wiped away. Since we know that Wright is not going to die (which was unlikely anyway), the movie basically becomes a showcase for Adkins’ martial arts talents through seeing how Wright escapes what should be certain death in a camp lead by Lt. Col. Ito where prisoners are forced to fight. Sure, there are many other characters, but most are not very well developed, and the focus stays largely on Wright and Lt. Col. Ito.

Scott Adkins has an impressive list of film credits and seems to have a decent fan base. Yet, I often tend to catch his name attached to “direct to video” movies (One Shot, Legacy of Lies) that elicit reactions from me ranging between “meh” and “it was alright” or I will see his name attached to theatrical releases where his celebrity status is minimized by arguably more well-known actors (The Killer’s Game, John Wick 4, X-Men Origins). Prisoner of War seems to be closer to the former category, especially in terms of my reaction to the film. “It was alright.”