Some stories beg to be told on film. It's a wonder it took Hollywood so long to tell the story of one of the most spectacular rescue missions in American military history.
In 1945, 121 American soldiers stormed the Japanese POW camp at Cabanatuan in the Philippines to save 511 men from certain death.
The Japanese had already killed the soldiers in all the other Philippines PoW camps.
As directed by John Dahl, whose father served in the Philippines campaign, The Great Raid is really three mini films that converge for the rescue.
The first film details how the headstrong Lt. Col. Henry Mucci (Benjamin Bratt) teams up with the dour career soldier Capt. Robert Prince (James Franco) to orchestrate the actual raid on the camp.
Call it Saving Many Private Ryans.
The second story takes the viewer into the camp where Major Gibson (Joseph Fiennes) is succumbing to malaria but still tries to keep his men from trying to incur the wrath of the Japanese commander (Motoki Kobayashi), who kills 10 men for each one who disobeys an order. Here we have echoes of The Bridge on the River Kwai.
Finally, there is the heroic deeds of the nurse Margaret Utinsky (Connie Nielsen) who is working with the underground in Manila.
To the credit of screenwriters Carlo Bernard and Doug Miro, the love story between Utinsky and Gibson works even though they have no scenes together.
The way the three stories are interwoven creates tension and suspense, which builds to a powerful climax.
Fiennes and the actors playing his men effectively convey the desperation of these soldiers.
Franco and Bratt are excellent foils.
The only real drawback are the superfluous voice overs. The film is powerful enough that the audience doesn't need to be told how to feel or why what they are watching is so important.
(This film is rated 14-A)
More Movie Reviews
