Alejo, Jerlyn Jane A.

Juris Doctor – Legal Research and Bibliography I

THE GREAT RAID REACTION PAPER

The film is unique in giving full credit to the Filipino fighters who joined the Rangers and made the local
logistics possible by enlisting the secret help of local farmers. The Filipinos are led by Capt. Juan Pajota,
portrayed by Cesar Montano, a forcible local actor who steps into the Hollywood cast and adds to its
authenticity and sense of mission.

A brilliant strategic idea is to have a single American plane make several passes over the camp, lifting the
eyes of the Japanese to the skies as rescuers were creeping toward them. The raid itself, when it comes,
is at night, and would be hard for us to follow except that it follows so precisely the plans that were
earlier outlined. One effective moment comes when an officer delays action to be absolutely sure that
all is ready; with radio silence, he has to send a scout, and we grow almost as impatient as the waiting
men.

On the other hand, the Great Raid has two unmistakable flaws: it starts slowly and contains too many
subplots. Every scene with Margaret Utinsky is a loss of time that could be better spent on the raid. At
best, Margaret is a peripheral character, yet the film insists on spending nearly a quarter of its running
length in her company. Her romantic attraction to Gibson is weakly motivated and executed, and does
not justify her appearance. I can understand giving us glimpses into the lives of the prisoners, but
Utinksy's presence does little more than to splinter The Great Raid's focus and extend the setup beyond
a reasonable length.

None of the characters are well defined. Although the screenplay gives each of the primary players a
defining characteristic or two, none of them grabs our sympathy. The performers, drawn primarily from
the ranks of character actors and secondary stars, are adequate. Benjamin Bratt is stiff at times, making
us indifferent to the Colonel's situation. Joseph Fiennes attempts to imitate Jeremy Irons, but lacks the
veteran actor's graveness. Connie Nielsen is effective in a throw-away role. The best performance is
given by James Franco (Peter Parker's best friend in Spider-Man), who brings spunk and swagger to
Captain Prince.

From a technical and a visceral standpoint, the actual raid, which encapsulates the movie's final third, is
an accomplished extended sequence. It's well paced, nicely photographed, and exciting enough to keep
viewers engaged. The problem is that getting to this point can be a chore. This is an odd quality to find in
a John Dahl film. Dahl, primarily a director of thrillers (Joy Ride, The Last Seduction), is known for his
economy of scenes and expert pacing. Something went wrong here, and the result is a muddled movie
that has a solid climax but a poor build-up. In the end, it can be said that The Great Raid tells a great
story, but the telling is not as good as the story deserves.