The latest Scott Adkins action flick, Prisoner of War, tries to balance the line between a serious war drama and martial arts action without doing either of them well.
Prisoner of War
Directed By: Louis Mandylor
Written By: Marc Clebanoff
Starring: Scott Adkins, Peter Skinkoda, Michael Copon, Donald Cerrone
Release Date: September 19, 2025 (VOD/Digital), October 6th DVD/Blu-Ray
Set during the earlier days of World War II, Prisoner of War puts the focus on British Royal Airforce Wing Commander, James Wright (Scott Adkins). During a failed mission, he and his squad are shot down over the Phillipines, where he ends up as the only survivor. He’s quickly captured by the Japanese and subsequently a prisoner at a nearby camp controlled by the ruthless Lt. Col. Benjiro Ito (Peter Shinkoda).
Thanks to growing up in Hong Kong, and training a few other places, Wright’s unique combat skills (along with some knowledge of a “forbidden move”) keeps him alive long enough to catch Ito’s attention. Day after day, he’s subjected to fighting different men from Ito’s cadre along with performing hard labor alongside the other POWs in the camp, all while trying to plan a way to escape.
It’s pretty straightforward stuff, and despite it’s obvious budget limitations manages to feel like a decent approximation of this time and place. The action also manages to deliver on some fun moments, with Adkins’ hand-to-hand skills on full display, though things get iffy when the film tries to incorporate the bigger, war-like, sequences.
It has it’s moments, but Prisoner of War‘s biggest issue is it’s caught between two differing approaches to storytelling. From the trailers to synopsis, the film positions itself as a balls to the wall kind of martial arts flick we’re used to with these releases. But…it’s not. In fact, there were far less fight scenes that I was expecting based on the description, and even how the film initially sets itself up (more on that in a bit).
This is because the film really wants to be a more serious war drama; telling a story about downtrodden POWs from disparate armies and how they come together to fight back/escape a sadistic officer who seems mad with power. The script just doesn’t have enough meat for that kind of story, however.
The side characters are okay, but nothing terribly engaging; serving more as archetypes we’ve seen in other war films. There are hints of other side-plots, like a potential traitor/ally among Ito’s men, and a nurse who’s just as much a captive as the soldiers…But these are given only passing attention with none of the dialog or even screen time needed to do something truly interesting with them.
Worse, it’s obvious the film downplays some of the action in its effort to be taken more seriously. There are some good bits, but nothing over-the-top or necessarily jaw-dropping. There’s not one specific moment that stands out in the fights I can look back on and think, “damn that was badass.”
It feels like the filmmakers purposefully grounded the fight scenes in order to fit the more serious tone. This is especially apparent in the final act which is oddly lacking in terms of a satisfying “final fight.” There are still some cool moments sprinkled in the action, but Adkins is limited to mostly basic moves and none of the flair we know he can bring.
Even stranger is how the main story is buttressed by two scenes set after the war, when Wright visits Ito’s dojo in Japan; presumably to exact his final revenge for all the war crimes Ito put him through. These are just…weird as the beginning and end (despite technically being the SAME scene/period of time) are tonally different. These scenes only serve to give Adkins an action-packed opening and try to make the end something more profound than it really is.
Adkins has some great screen presence and does what he can with a script isn’t interested in making use of his talents. He’s got the chops (John Wick 4 showed he can do weird/against type work), but these straight to video martial arts flicks aren’t doing him any favors. He’s stuck in a Jean Claude Van Damme cycle, essentially playing tough man roles in 80s-esque action flicks without the charm of nostalgia to bring viewers back.
While watching, I kept thinking about films like Ip Man, another period war drama that share some basic plot similarities when it comes to the Japanese occupation. But where that film embraced the fantastical, over-the-top fight sequences that make it so memorable (on top of a drama filled story), Prisoner of War goes the opposite direction. The result is a film that just kinda plods along. It doesn’t have enough fun action to uplift the straightforward, and rather dull, story.
