Uneven but entertaining

Rating: 6/10 (16 January 2007)

I never saw this film on its original release, and have somehow missed it in the intervening years until now. I guess that there is nothing left to say about the eye-openingly mature performance that was given by Christian Bale (but it was!) so I'll (mostly) skip that. So, how was the film? Well, it strikes me that Japanese prisoner of war camps probably really were not that much fun. I appreciate that this was an all-ages film, and that demonstrating that the Japanese were just people too was part of the point, but I still feel that the overall terror and brutality of the situation was not as well conveyed as it should have been. The camp, as seen through Jim's eyes, seemed like a slightly grungy Butlins (well, not really, but you catch my drift). Bizarrely (for a self-professed movie fan) I've not seen Schindler's List either, and I am now even more curious to see how Spielberg handled that World War II story in comparison.