ONLY THE BRAVE has potential, that's for sure. It tells the story of Japanese-American troops fighting on the side of America against Japan during the Second World War. It's not an original subject matter, because they'd done similar films since the 1950s, but I was more than happy to check out the story as told for a new generation.
Sadly, this turns out not to be a war film at all, but rather an overworked melodrama. Just as the story seems to turn interesting, the viewer is treated to another endless flashback; flashback footage eats up most of the running time here. We get to see the soldiers back home as they interact with their wives and family members, and these scenes are embarrassingly 'arty' and quite lame. The film is bogged down with romantic sentiment throughout, and I found it all quite unwatchable. It's a pity, as the casting director has assembled plenty of familiar Asian-American and Hawaiaan actors, including action stalwarts like Mark Dacascos and Jason Scott Lee, alongside Greg Watanabe and Kenneth Choi.
Sadly, this turns out not to be a war film at all, but rather an overworked melodrama. Just as the story seems to turn interesting, the viewer is treated to another endless flashback; flashback footage eats up most of the running time here. We get to see the soldiers back home as they interact with their wives and family members, and these scenes are embarrassingly 'arty' and quite lame. The film is bogged down with romantic sentiment throughout, and I found it all quite unwatchable. It's a pity, as the casting director has assembled plenty of familiar Asian-American and Hawaiaan actors, including action stalwarts like Mark Dacascos and Jason Scott Lee, alongside Greg Watanabe and Kenneth Choi.