Writer/director Uwe Boll's war drama takes place in the Cu Chi jungles of Viet Nam circa 1968. There is no rule book, no play book for war...especially this one. Armed with handguns, flashlights and knives, Sergeant Vic Hollowborn(MIchael Pare) leads a combat unit into underground warfare with the goal to eradicate the Viet Cong resistance forces burrowed effectively in their narrow and dusty domain. Hand to hand battle not for pride...but survival. Interesting, but nothing real special. Pare is a believable bigoted leader. Others in the cast: Nate Parker, Wilson Bethel, Brandon Fobbs, Brad Schmidt, Jane Le and Scott Ly.

Uwe Boll, what's with you making good movies all of a sudden? Perhaps Postal got him out of the stupor of churning out celluloid crap-shoots and now, more or less in his career, he's actually trying. This doesn't mean he's always a filmmaker that people should rush out to see. There's a reason, for example, that he won't have a movie play in theaters again the way he had with his video-game bullshit in the mainstream. But under the radar, he's able to do a little more than before, with a little ambition going a ways in a B-movie set up. Tunnel Rats is such a B-movie that there aren't any really recognizable actors (not even the somewhat recognizable star of Rampage). In that sense it reminds one of those old-school war movies of the 50's and 60's (Merill's Marauder's anyone) where the lack of recognizable faces lends further authenticity to the situations.

There isn't really a firm plot for the film, but this is not too much of a problem. What's basic to lay out is that there are a lot of intricate tunnels under the surface in Vietnam, and they've been dug by the Vietcong as their own kind of maze. We get to know the characters, more or less, though to keep track of names might be fruitless; we know these people more by type or by personality (one very pleasant touch is that one of the real walking clichés in war movies- the guy who prattles on and just can't wait to get home to his mama or wife or whatever- not only doesn't get slaughtered the first chance it should happen, but he becomes a momentary bad-ass in hand-to-hand combat right in the s*** of things.

The lack of characterization could be a much bigger flaw to contend with if it were a firm character piece. But aside from some early getting- to-know-you chit-chat (and one other cliché, describing what it was like back home, is a little more intolerable),when the troops start to move out and go into the tunnels, it becomes a non-stop action film. And as part of Boll's ambition to twist the much done Vietnam-War film - a particular kind of war film sub-genre in some respects - most of the runtime is spent underground as the Americans and the Vietcong square off, in the dark, sometimes not knowing who is going to come upon the other. For two points of reference, think of the opening sequence of Casualties of War, only extended to the claustrophobic, horror film extremes of The Descent (albeit Boll is not as strong or inventive a filmmaker as De Palma or Marshall, save for the touches of claustrophobia and the ultra-grisly violence).

Boll doesn't turn away from the more gruesome bits, and we shouldn't either. We're in combat that is massive, all over the place, super- bloody, and it works to ratchet up the tension. We are also given a little of the "other" side, which is just as primitive in their reaction to the US and the US is to them (the "three of them raped a woman, I must kill them all" line is all we get for rationale, whatever). But in an odd way a woman with two kids ends up getting some complexity, if only towards the end during a very intense scene where she's confronted by another US soldier during a bombing raid. Boll could bleed (no pun intended) this over into melodrama, but doesn't too much. If he's guilty of things it's lack of characterization and a very strong story, which should be big cinematic crimes. However, he also has a fantastic sense of pacing action, knows well where to put the camera, and gives some of the soldiers a chance to shine on screen. When it keeps its focus narrow and strong, it's something of a triumph... and then one has to remember it's Uwe Boll. Once again, who knew?

The year is 1968, the location is Vietnam in the region of Cu Chi. A small group of American soldiers are trying to track down VC soldiers in the nearby jungle and discover a series of tunnels. What started a a difficult mission may now prove to be downright impossible... how do you kill an enemy when they have all the advantages?

This film from Uwe Boll is, believe it or not, surprisingly good. Critics have long considered his work to be, frankly, awful. And I confess that some of his movies -- "Bloodrayne" and "House of the Dead", for example -- were not worth a pair of fetid dingo's kidneys. But at the same time, he seems to be getting better. "Bloodrayne 2" was an improvement, and now we have "Tunnel Rats". Perhaps not the best film you'll see this year, but a decent one and not particularly bad. Boll did not deserve the Golden Raspberry Award he received for this film.

The word that allegedly sums up this film is "uncompromising". The quote on the box declares the film so, and Boll himself called the film this when I interviewed him. Not sure I think the film is "uncompromising"... it definitely gives more gore than the average war movie, and he doesn't shy away from having the Americans get royally trounced... but I can't say that "uncompromising" really fits the film. Bold, maybe. But uncompromising? Not necessarily moreso than other films of the genre, such as "Full Metal Jacket". But, it does push some boundaries.

What could be said to be a strength or weakness of this film is that it has lots of dialog. We spend a fair amount of time getting to know the American soldiers and how they are real people put in a place they would rather not be. I think Boll's script is amazing in this regard, as he really captures what it is like being an American away from home. His references to American locations and lifestyles is impressive. Could I, an American, write a film about Germany in the 1960s? Not very easily. So he deserves much credit in this regard. Yet, at the same time, one could say the dialog goes on too long at points, with characters getting too much depth when many of them have precious little screen time.

The question I asked when I first heard about "Tunnel Rats" was this: do we really need more Vietnam movies? After "Full Metal Jacket", "Platoon", and countless others, haven't we said what we needed to say? America was in a war it shouldn't have been in and horrible things happened. I've had this message fed to me again and again. So I'm a bit burned out on Vietnam. But this film does offer something I've never seen before -- the Cu Chi tunnels -- and has a unique perspective that other films didn't quite meet. So, while perhaps not necessary, it isn't just a forgettable piece of trash.

I would recommend "Tunnel Rats". Uwe Boll tries to prove himself with this film and does an admirable job. If this is any indication of his growth as a writer and director, his upcoming projects should be fantastic. "Bloodrayne 3" may surpass the first two, and his film on Max Schmeling has the potential for greatness. Are we seeing a turning point in the career of one of the world's most controversial directors?