Scott Adkins should be a much bigger star; followers of martial arts action films have heard that many times, and his latest, Prisoner of War, gives us another solid entry in his filmography.
Here he stars as a British R.A.F. pilot, James Wright, whose plane is shot down over the Philippines, but he manages to survive. After struggling in the jungle, he is captured by the Japanese and taken to a prisoner of war camp.
The sadistic head officer of the camp notices his fighting skills while being attacked by guards and proceeds to put him up against his best fighters for his own amusement. After he and his fellow captive endure harsh and brutal treatment, they plan to escape or at least inform the incoming Americans of their whereabouts.
The plot has been seen many times before, but it gives Adkins a chance to show his fighting skills and acting chops. The film starts as it’s meant to go on with Adkins entering a Karate dojo in Japan, beating up the students and demanding to know where the general is. The film then flashes back to how it all started.
The characters, conflicts, and strategies are quite familiar to action fans, but, as expected, the highlights are the prolific and at times brutal fight scenes. Directed by Louis Mandaylor, who fans will remember from starring opposite Adkins in the Debt Collector films, as well as co-starring in the first season of the TV series Martial Law alongside Sammo Hung.
He does a great job here with good cinematography and pacing under such a tight budget. The film also has a great supporting cast too, including Donald Cerrone and Shane Kosugi.
Another great action film which can be seen on streaming but has yet to get a physical media release, which is a great shame.
FILM – 7.5