War

War pits Jason Statham and Jet Li against each other. Both are known for their insane action and martial arts sequences, but for all that talent we never really see one good hand to hand fight between the two. It's your basic revenge story, Jet Li kills Statham's partner and Statham wants to crush his nuts. You know, your basic action movie. Don't expect War to win any awards. Unless there's some sort of awards show with all action movies in it nowadays. If you go into this movie expecting the next Shakespearean masterpiece, you're in deep deep trouble. It's a little more paced than some people make it out to be. There are huge breaks in the action that take time to tell the story and a little character development. Note that they are not small breaks but huge ones. Action comes in doses, but when it does it hits you like a train to the jaw.

There is a slight twist in the movie that helps to accentuate that it's trying to be different from other movies in this genre but it doesn't quite succeed. The "twist" ends up coming off as another of a hundred ways this is just like every other action movie ever made. In the same way most action movies treat themselves (and they should) lightly and with as little detail to realism as possible, so too does War. It knows that it's an action movie, and never expects you to think any thing more about it than that. In this same genre I would recommend Shoot 'Em Up over this, if you have already seen that this might feel a little tame in comparison. In that same way though, this movie has a different flavor and succeeds in its own way. Worth watching, but there are much better picks in this genre.

Nail-biting and violent thriller set in San Francisco, being well starred by the tough , two-fisted Jason Statham to track down a serial killer played by Jet Li who has been targeting Oriental mobsters by murdering them in cold blood . After his partner Tom Lone and family are killed apparently by the infamous and elusive assassin Rogue , FBI agent John Crawford (Jason Statham) becomes obsessed with revenge as his world unravels into a vortex of treason and guilt. As the FBI Agent seeks vengeance who murdered his partner , looking for a mysterious and lethal series killer . Crawford and his colleagues , Goi (Sung Kang) and Wick (Mathew St. Patrick), carry out a relentless manhunt going after the bloody murderer . Then Rogue eventually resurfaces to settle a score of his own, setting off a bloody crime war between Asian mob rivals Chang (John Lone) of the Triad's and Yakuza boss Shiro (Ryo Ishibashi) and his daughter Kira (Devon Aoki) . When Jack and Rogue eventually come face to face, it's a deadly and lethal confrontation and the ultimate truth of their pasts will be revealed. One wants justice, the other wants revenge ! . Vengeance is the ultimate weapon !.

Intriguing and decent thriller movie with noisy action, grisly killings , suspense , chills , car pursuits , crossfire , lots of violence and a surprising final twist . Jason Statham is nice in his usual style as the agent who is dispatched to take down a series murderer. Here Statham is top-notch as Agent Crawford , he plays following his ordinary manners as a tough and two-fisted guy , interpretations that have given him a considerable success, thanks to films as " Revolver" , "Crank" I and its sequel "Crank II" , "Transporter" saga, "The Expendables", "Killer Elite", "Safe" , "Homefront", "Wild Card", "The Mechanic" I and II, "Fast and Furious" 7 and 8, "Megalodon", among others . Along with martial expert Jet Li who previously played a lot of of successful action heroes in films as "Romeo must die" , "Cradle 2" , "Hero" , "The one " , "Kiss of dragon" , and "Danny the Dog" . Big Duo Stars Jason Statham and Jet Li are well accompanied by a good support cast, with full of familiar American/Japanese/Chinese faces such as : John Lone , Devon Aoki , Luis Guzmán , Saul Rubinek, Ryo Ishibashi, Sung Kang , Mathew St. Patrick , Nadine Velazquez , Andrea Roth , Mark Cheng and Kane Kosugi , Shane Kosugi's son , among others.

It contains a brilliant and colorful cinematography by cameraman Pierre Morel , completely shot in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and San Francisco, California, , as well as thrilling musical score by Brian Tyler . The motion picture was competent and professionally directed by an usual videoclip filmmaker called Philip G. Atwell, at his film debut , delivering action and tension enough . This filmmaker is a fine craftsman who has directed a large number of videoclips and episodes of TV series as The Shield . Rating : 6/10. The picture will appeal to action/thriller enthusiasts . Essential and fundamental seeing for Jason Statham and Jet Li fans.

Hey, if you're interested in seeing a mostly-violent flick with a big body count, gratuitous in nature half the time, and a lot of hostility, anger, betrayal, a big twist near the end and tons of testosterone, then this movie is for you. If you want a quiet, low-key thriller, skip this one: this is somewhat brainless blood-and-guts, slice 'n dice. In other words: know what you're going to get here.

We get many, many gunshots to head., long range to up-close-and personal, swords into mouths and through back of head and through just about any other body part, a car chase, motorcycle chases, a few bare breasts and a bunch of attention-grabbing scenes of brutality, which definitely outnumber the quieter scenes.

Jason Statham seems to be the new macho man of the day, playing this kind of role in numerous films the past few years. Jet Li.....well, you know him. Statham versus Li? Yes, but not really. The two are only in the same scene twice, once for a couple of minutes of Jason giving threats and Jet standing there passively, and then in the finale fight scene. The latter, unlike most of these action films of today, is not overdone and go on and on. It's just about the right length.

The best part of this ultra-violent movie dealing with rival Asian gangs and FBI agent (s) in the middle in the BIG twist near the end of the film. At least it makes this a little more than a brainless action movie. I think it's kind of cool, although don't try to analyze it for credibility.

While a number of reviewers here weren't happy that the two big stars weren't on the screen at the same time for long, my choice for under-played actor is Luis Guzman, who is always very interesting but didn't have many lines here. I'd like to have seen his part a lot bigger, and I would have liked to see Statham tone it tone and sound a little more intelligent in his role. In real life, FBI agents have a lot more class.

Having said that, I still enjoyed the film because I knew in advance what it was, that it wasn't Li's best effort nor Statham's but it sufficed for a 100-minute diversion. I was looking for action...and I got it! I also recommend this for those who have HDTV and a Blu-Ray disc player. This is a very slick-looking film on Blu-Ray.

Just don't bring the kiddies or grandma into the living room to watch this!

I saw the movie War with Jason Statham and Jet Li. Jason has let me down. I say that mostly because the movie sucked. Don't go watch it in the theater. Don't rent it on video. You could spend that amount of time getting your teeth cleaned or washing your garbage cans and it would be more fun. (Or, hey, stay home and watch Crank or Transporters I and II.) I know it's not High Cinema, whatever that is. But look, dialogue with a bit of wit and sass is not too much to ask. This is a movie about a Yakuza war, right? So three different times, someone says, "This means war." Literally. Duh.

The fighting was sparse. Worse, there were not many good fights. A rousing fight between Rogue and Kira would have pushed the envelope a bit and made the movie better. Devon Aoki made a good tough in Sin City. That might have been fun. Two things I did like were the vehicles and weapons, but there wasn't nine dollars worth of that eye candy.

Obviously, my perspective differs from the few previous posters', who loved this movie. I'm glad they got more out of it than I did. I just want my money back!

When his partner and partner's family are murdered in a revenge attack, FBI Agent Jack Crawford devotes his career to tracking down the near-mythical Yakuza assassin Rogue. Three years later his unit is starting to get close when Rogue because killing again in the San Francisco area. However his pursuit puts him right in the middle of a bloody gang war between the Yakuza and the Triads as the conflict between the two seems to be suddenly and violently escalating.

I ignored War at the cinema because of the negative reviews but when it came on television recently I checked it out – a process which mainly confirmed by decision not to bother with it when I would have had to pay. It is not that War is a bad film (it is not) just that it is quite lacklustre in far too many regards. The story. The plotting has been described by others here as intelligent and complex but I have to disagree. I think it had potential but it is not drawn out as sharp as it needed to be for this and when it needs to be at its strongest (the conclusion) it really fails to execute and just fizzles out. However apart from the reviewer from The Observer, few will have come to this film looking for plot but instead top of the list will have been the desire for action – specifically a faceoff between Li and Statham. Unfortunately this is also only so-so across the whole film. There is action that is noisy but there are no "killer" scenes and I was surprised by how uninvolved and unmoved I was by all of it.

Statham does help the film by having a great, tough charisma. It is a shame that he has yet to have a really strong action film but it is noticeable that he is a constant "good thing" even when other areas are lacking. Conversely Li has gone overboard on his "cool detached killer" character and at times appears to be either asleep or thinking about how long it would take him to spend all the money he has. I did not expect De Niro/Pacino type interactions here but I did think these two would be used off one another better but they were not – their shared scenes did not stick in the memory one bit. The support is OK but unmemorable but it was nice to see Guzman, Kang, Velazquez (My Name is Earl) and Patrick (Six Feet Under). The direction and packing of the film is never more than genre-standard, with pumping music, quick edits and so on.

War is not a bad film, but it is a disappointing one. I ignored the hype so it is not a case of me believing that, but it is a case of me not being happy with a "so-so" film when a good one would not have been so hard to achieve. As it is most of the film is quite lacklustre and, while distracting, there are better films by both lead actors out there to see.