The Art of War

Everyone loves a Wesley Snipes flick. If it's decent, that is, and these days he's been churning out some sewer muck. Back in the day, however, he had some bangers, which includes The Art Of War. Wesley heads up an elite tactical team here, secretly employed by the United Nations, hired to do all kinds of cloak and dagger stuff, including securing trade deals, eliminating potential threats and maintaining cooperation from all sides. Run by a well spoken Donald Sutherland and Anne Archer, it's a low key 'fight fire with fire' situation, until it all goes tits up and Snipes is framed for the murder of some bigwig Chinese dirtbag. Forced to contend with Triads, government factions and his own former partner gone rogue (Michael Biehn steals every scene, as usual), it's a nice set up for a serviceable, above average action yarn. That Oriental influence always seems to make these thrillers seem cooler (ever seen Black Rain or Rising Sun?) which helps as well. Snipes and Biehn are livewires though and have a fantastic silenced pistol duel late in the third act, which is one slick showcase of a sequence. Not a whole lot to this one, but as an entertaining garden variety actioner, it holds up just fine.

In this tale of betrayal and conspiracy, secret agent Neil Shaw (Wesley Snipes) finds himself framed for the murder of the UN Chinese Ambassador. What follows soon after is a palate of action sequences that are easy to the eyes and references to real-world politics, though sometimes far-fetched.

The story is okay, but it could have been so much more. They should have focused more on the crumbling relationship between the US and China as shown in the film, with a lot of truth mixed in. But alas, they had to add in some predictably cheesy plot twists to make it more "audience friendly". The action sequences, although well filmed, looks lost in this film. And there are some obvious plot holes here.

Actors are average. Snipes gives his usual action-hero persona we've seen in "Murder at 1600". Marie Matiko is gorgeous with her sultry eyes and accent, and gives a good performance, making her not just eye candy. Donald Sutherland, although brief, gives the best performance in the film as the Secretary of Defense, but I think he needed more screen time. Anne Archer is also quite good in her role, as Shaw's head Hooks.

Direction wise, Christian Duguay did the job. His direction is gripping. The music by Normand Corbeil suits the atmosphere of the film, and is not cheesy or overblown. The editing is fast.

In short, it could have been an intelligent thriller, but it opted for the easy way out, filled with clichés, plot holes and a lot of action. The latter I can live with but the former two needs some corrections. Still, it's not bad. Not bad at all.

Entertainment: 7

Overall: 6

Snipes puts in a fine performance as Neil Shaw, a united nations defence agent who is wanted for the assassination of the Chinese U.N. ambassador at a time where U.S. and Chinese relations are already strained.

Snipes teams up with a beautiful U.N. translator (Marie Matiko) in a search for the truth behind the conspiracy that is engulfing the duo. The Art of War delivers action, thrills and good plot twists and overall is a satisfying thriller. However it is not without some minor flaws, the story although complex and interesting is somewhat dis-jointed in its delivery and the ending lacks impact, even if it does ring true to the plot line.

All in all 'The Art of War' is a good, yet less than perfect action thriller, that will certainly satisfy Snipes fans.

7/10

Wesley Snipes has always been trusty in the action genre. He has great charisma and looks totally cool when kicking the crap out of the bad guys. Ever since his breakthrough role in "Passenger 57." There are many great moments of action in "The Art of War." Sure, the plot is far from compelling, but the energy and fast pace keeps it fueled.

"The Art of War" is not a work of art, but it's a great popcorn flick and one that won't put you to sleep! I just wish they could've done something about the cliches. I'm not going to give anything away, so I'll just say, "Why is it in these movies the characters never seem to know who their limo driver is?" It's an overused cliche and a cheap surprise.

My score: 7 (out of 10)

The Art of War, a somewhat pretentiously slick and stylish thriller is a nice action film from the first year of the new millennium. Grafting current events onto that old stand-by plot device, the accused innocent man, and adding lots of gratuitously arty cinematography, Duguay has come up with a film that manages to be diverting - provided, of course, you don't think too deeply about the plot. When the film works, it's because of the tight pacing and expertly choreographed action scenes. The "surprise" twists in the plot are nothing of the sort - anyone who doesn't expect the return from the dead of one character and the betrayal by another hasn't seen many of these movies. This is a good Wesley Snipes film, rather forgotten.