Review by Adam Stephen Kelly
Stars Mark Dracascos, Jason Scott Lee, John Koyama, Jeff Fahey, Pat Morita | Written by Lane Nishikawa
UK Certification 15 | UK RRP £12.99 | DVD Region 2 | Runtime 95 minutes | Directed by Lane Nishikawa
The Second World War exploits of the 100th and 442nd Infantry Battalions were completely unknown to me prior to seeing Only the Brave, and after viewing the film I'm not sure why. They were soldiers of Japanese descent who, after being discharged from US prison camps where they were held simply because of their ethnicity and heritage after Pearl Harbor, went on to serve in campaigns in North Africa, Italy and France, liberating town after town from the clutches of the Axis forces. Through their cohesive efforts and massive losses, the 442nd became the most decorated unit of its size in American military history.
Perhaps the war stories of Asian-Americans have been deemed not commercial enough for the mainstream audience, not to mention the studios—Only the Brave is a low-budget independent film, but it makes very good use of its modest financing. Now, with an original, intriguing concept, it'd need a good storyteller to do justice to the unfortunately forgotten history behind the film. But this is not the case. When will film-makers learn that flashbacks are a device that you can only use once or twice before they become overused? Only the Brave is full of them, all used to give back-story to the characters. Yes, good, we want characters who aren't flat, but please spin their yarns with a technique other than flashbacks!
Nishikawa's direction is nothing special, though you couldn't call it bad. But his script? It's like a literary seesaw. Sometimes the dialogue is fittingly dramatic, but at other points he goes overboard with his writing and it turns to melodrama, which then annoyingly transforms into overly-romanticised, cringe-worthy pulp.
I admire the fact that Lane has focused on telling a story rather than going for an action movie, which definitely would not fit the film. That's not to say that there's no combat, though, as there are smatterings throughout, and the scenes are done well for the budget, but that's one of the few positives, and hidden behind the poorly-scripted romance between soldiers and their dearly beloveds, not to mention a rather pointless and tiny cameo by the late Pat Morita in one of his final roles just before he died.
This was a lackluster effort at telling a story that needed to be told, so I'm eagerly awaiting another film that takes a more skillful and appropriate approach at giving new life to the Second World War's forgotten heroes on the screen.
EXTRAS ★ Just the trailer.