2
0
2025 has been a fantastic year for indie action cinema with several adrenaline laced movies making a name for themselves like the sci-fi epic Osiris and the recently released insane dinosaur/war hybrid Primitive War. You can’t have a banner year in action without including the icon himself Scott Adkins and the star of so many action epics pulls no punches for his latest WW II martial arts actioner Prisoner of War. The film reunites Adkins with his Debt Collector co-star and fellow action star Louis Mandylor who is behind the camera on this one. Mandylor, who has quietly made a name for himself in indie action has been killing it as of late directing several films like Operation Blood Hunt and 3 Days in Malay. Both films take place during the second world war and for his latest in Prisoner of War, he performs the WW II hat trick and adds the best in the business as his weapon of execution.
Prisoner of War, which hails from a story idea of Adkins along with writer Marc Clebanoff, delves into more than just fists and feet as it also tackles the horrors of POWs who wake up each and every day wondering if it will be their last. It is also based off the unbelievable true story of the infamous Bataan Death March where countless American and Filipino soldiers were mercilessly forced to hike approximately 60 to 70 miles after the Japanese won the Battle of Bataan. Adkins stars as British Wing Commander James Wright and the film actually opens after the war as we see an older Wright enter a Japanese Dojo looking for a fight and for good reason. You see, he’s looking for the man who tormented him years ago and he’s looking for retribution and a little justice for what took place during the last great war.
The film backtracks from there and we see Wright as he is shot down during a mission and upon utilizing escape and evasion procedures which include eliminating multiple Japanese soldiers with brutal empty-handed flair, Wright is eventually captured and thrust into hell on earth. The POW camp is run with a merciless and iron fist by the camp’s overlord Lt. Col. Ito, played with a quiet intensity by wonderful character actor Peter Shinkoda of Dardedevil and The Predator fame.
Ito isn’t your ordinary sadist in that he not only forces his prisoners to work themselves to death and tortures them on a daily basis, but he also makes them fight in brutal death matches with his guards for entertainment. When Ito discovers Wright, the dictator simply sees the British soldier as easy fodder for his sick games, but the tables are turned when Ito discovers that Wright is a fighting machine with impeccable skills that dispatches each and every foe without so much as breaking a sweat. This, of course, infuriates Ito and thus begins a violent and dark game of cat and mouse between warden and prisoner with Ito attempting to break Wright’s soul and the latter looking to survive until rescue.
When Wright enters the camp, he immediately is introduced to a host of fellow POWs like Sgt. Villenueva (Michael Copon), The Beard (Michael Rene Walton), and Captain Collins (MMA champ Cowboy Cerrone) who delivers a standout performance and when Wright continues to win every battle thrown at him, he turns into a symbol of hope and honor for the beleaguered crew of captured misfits. There is also a cameo from Shane Kosugi, son of Ninja icon Sho Kosugi and brother to fellow action star Kane Kosugi and while his presence is brief, he stands out with a quick and bloody altercation with Adkins towards the beginning.
At this stage of his career, Adkins has nothing to prove, and he has literally poured blood, sweat and tears into a decades long career that has seen him amass a legion of fans and respect in the industry as the best of the best in action cinema. Adkins deserves to have his name mentioned in the same breath as other icons like Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Van Damme and Norris and there is no denying that he is a thrill to watch on screen.
In Prisoner of War, Adkins also delivers another standout performance besides the blistering action, and he is the complete package when it comes to action stars working today. Adkins plays Wright with an understated and ferocious intensity that erupts at the right times, and he commands the screen when he is on. His scenes with Ito are the stuff of legends and it reminded me of watching Missing in Action 2: The Beginning with Chuck Norris’ Braddock going up against Soon-Tek Oh’s vicious Colonel Yin. Their conversations are simple and effective and each actor plays off the other with solid results. I have always said that Adkins is the kind of star that elevates any film that he is in and if the movie doesn’t quite measure up to the man, well then, he simply makes it better just by being in it.
On the other side of the coin, Louis Mandylor is quickly becoming the go to filmmaker for no holds barred indie action cinema and with Prisoner of War, the action star turned director executes an unapologetic and unflinching war drama that is laced with savage beats of tier one action design. It always amazes on how indie filmmakers can do so much with so little and here Mandylor elevates the project well above its limited budget and constraints. Mandylor, having starred in so many action films and TV series in the past, knows how to capture the story and the ferocious action packaging everything tightly into a powder keg of a movie.
Now with it already stated that Adkins’ dramatic chops have reached a new level of respect, it will always be the gravity defying and jaw hitting the floor action design of his movies that he will be known for. With Prisoner of War, Adkins showcases why he is tier one in this game and this time around, Adkins executes his most stripped down and barbaric fighting sequences to date. The film starts off with a barrage of fisticuffs culminating in bladed warfare and it continues to excel from there with each and every throwdown where Wright is matched with the most dangerous fighters that Ito can throw at him.
The film’s action designer and stunt coordinator Stephen Renney has crafted superb and riveting altercations that look to tell a story, and the standouts are a two on one affair with Adkins deploying his arsenal of his best moves and a nail biting sequence where Wright is tortured to an inch of his life but then proceeds to turn the tables on his captors and while utilizing some flashy stick work in the process. Each battle is stripped down, visceral and different in their style and execution and they should elicit the proper response from the audience.
The climax is a barrage of explosions and death that culminates in a brief but fierce sword fight between Wright and Ito. The choreography is spot on and executed with dazzling and razor-sharp precision. My only complaint, and this is a minor nitpick, is that it was a tad brief. That’s nothing but a compliment to the execution as I would have loved to see more during the sequence, but I digress.
It’s important to note that they explain why Wright is so proficient in the fighting arts as the character has grown up mainly overseas in Asia while learning the savage science known only in that area at the time. This little input offers a dose of authentic realism, so the audience understands why a white guy in the ‘40’s knows how to execute such beautiful and brutal moves and it just shows that Mandylor knows how to make everything lock into place, so the film doesn’t careen into nonsensical storytelling.
Overall, Prisoner of War is pure, unfiltered and savage Scott Adkins at his bruising best. He continues to show audiences that he is much more than just an action icon and with this entry, he puts out his most dramatic effort to date. This is a different kind of war film that strips back the layers on the plight of the POW while delivering a barrage of brutality and epic action design in the process. Combining a WW II thriller with a Bloodsport style subtext was a stroke of genius and it elicits the proper reaction while viewing. Adkins and Mandylor are an all-star team when it comes to making indie action at its most raw and fans of the genre will more than get their feel from what this one has to offer.
VERDICT: 4.5 Out of 5 Stars
Prisoner of War is prime Scott Adkins at his hard hitting, master class best! An unquestionable contender for best action film of 2025!
Prisoner of War will be In Theaters & On Digital Sept. 19! from Well Go USA!
[…] Big Bad Film Fest 2025 Review: PRISONER OF WAR- Scott Adkins & Director Louis Mandylor Unleash a… […]
[…] The Debt Collector films. Our review from The Big Bad Film Fest is Live and ready for consumption (you can read it here), and my exclusive extended interview with the Scott himself goes live […]
[…] Review: PRISONER OF WAR- Scott Adkins & Director Louis Mandylor Unleash a Savage, Stripped Down … […]