Review: Company of Heroes

Set during WWII (Battle of the Bulge to be more specific), a group of American soldiers (headed by Tom Sizemore and featuring Chad Michael Collins) are on a routine delivery mission (Christmas ham, no less!) when they stumble upon a top-secret Nazi plan to develop a big-time nuclear weapon. They then become involved in the plan to smuggle out the defecting German scientist (Jurgen Prochnow). There is some confusion from sniper Collins as to why the company cook is suddenly the head of a platoon, but Sizemore is no mere cook, and has a rather tragic back-story (as does his character- Zing!), we slowly learn. Richard Sammel plays one of the main Nazis, Neal McDonough is the American commander who barks the orders, whilst Vinnie Jones turns up as a brawling British soldier who tags along, apparently because he likes a fight.

Although it won’t make you forget “Saving Private Ryan” or “Black Hawk Down” in a hurry (especially with Tom Sizemore in the cast of all three), this WWII film from director Don Michael Paul and writer David Reed (who wrote SyFy’s surprisingly not bad horror pic “Boogeyman”) is still pretty watchable for a lesser-budgeted, direct-to-DVD film based on a video game series. I didn’t even know it was based on a video game series until after the film was over, and this certainly ain’t no Uwe Boll cheesefest. The budget occasionally shows (I personally think that’s a flaw in digital filmmaking, it tends to show the seams in a way celluloid never did), but the snowy woodland scenery is very effectively shot and quite attractive. Darkness, shadow, and light are all attractively dealt with. I must disagree with the whole zoom/pan nonsense, which is entirely unnecessary. It’s a disease especially prevalent on TV and in Tony Scott films, but here it feels...tacky. That said, the film is also pretty violent, which I approve of. What was that I was saying about being tacky? Sorry, but when a head goes squish underneath a tank, it warms my black heart, OK?

If you like your smaller, B-grade war movies, this one’s not bad. I just feel like there was one too many similarities to other war films for its own good, especially with Sizemore’s clichéd ‘war veteran with a poor record of keeping his men alive’ role, straight out of “Saving Private Ryan”. But let’s face it, Sizemore was probably happy to be working, and on something of even a little bit of merit. He gives a perfectly fine, no-frills showing and looks to be in OK health too, which is very encouraging (though he is still noticeably older and more weathered, which is to his advantage, playing a character who has presumably seen a lot that he now can’t un-see). In fact, I really hope Sizemore gets another chance with mainstream Hollywood. This may not be the best use of his talents, but on evidence here, I think he’s ready to come back and do something even better than this. All-purpose German bad guy Jurgen Prochnow is actually effectively cast here in a role that isn’t what it first seems. It’s a shame he’s given hardly any screen time to make it worthwhile, though. Richard Sammel gets more to do here as one of the Nazis and the “Inglourious Basterds” actor is in suitable Anton Diffring mode here. Vinnie Jones is invaluable casting in this, as the kind of rowdy, possibly unstable guy who might just end up being Telly Savalas in “The Dirty Dozen”. He’s fun to watch, at any rate, stealing his every scene.

This isn’t a substantial war film, but it’s a better one than I was expecting, and hey, who doesn’t love seeing Vinnie Jones bust a few heads in a pub fight? It’s clichéd, though not boring, and quite a good try. With a bigger budget, it might’ve been even better (those explosions look a bit fake, unfortunately).

Rating: B-