The Art of War II: Betrayal

Sad to see so many bad reviews. I give this film a seven out of ten.

Sure the film has a cheesy intro, and sure if you ponder too long the plot lacks credibility on many frontiers... but thats what makes many of the twists and turns so unexpected.

The acting is to be expected, and some of the sf action scenes are over the top... but then there are battles that are scarily realistic.

The switching of the realism and the ridiculous gives the film a charm.

I had this film in my possession for a long time and I discarded it purely based on IMDb ratings. I'm glad I watched it.

Ignore the bad reviews and get entertained.

This film has everything from poor to great.

Wesley Snipes' movies aren't exactly groundbreaking material, but the first Art Of War was a pretty good action movie even if it was a bit generic.

The new Art of War movie is a total disaster. I don't even know where to start. The plot is thin and incoherent at best. Both the direction and camera angles are amateurish or even worse. The entire cast was at best platonic.Some scenes are shot so badly, you wonder whether it was directed or just some homemade video slapped into the movie. Also, the makers did a pathetic job of trying to pass off Canada as L.A.

The only 'good' thing about this movie is that you might end up laughing uncontrollably at their miserable attempt at making a movie.

Perhaps you like or perhaps you hate the first Art Of War. However, considering limitations of this genre, what Christian Duguay presented from his creative side is truly fantastic.

Superb dosage of action. Action mostly intelligent at that. Cinematic side of the first one is exceptional and truly atmospheric, while sound treatment was of the same caliber. Well collaborated efforts with fine results. It is very clear to anyone who has seen the first part; that story and the movie itself, never really anticipated further conclusion; nor it required any sequel for that matter.

This could be any "of the shelf" action movie with Wesley and with title that would less embarrass both Wesley and the rest of the collaborating crew. I wont even path into this story. Just awful ! Technical and visual side of this movie is incredibly ambivalent. From time to time I had a feeling of watching a TV movie or high packed TV commercial. A few nice shoots, but what remains is almost vaccinated from cinematic experience. Wesley, I like you, always did. But please, learn the art of choosing the Sun Tzus among writers, directors and casting! And please, don't be cheap on production like this!

It ain't no masterpiece or even great action flick, but all in all this is a Wesley Snipes bad-to-da-bone thriller roller-coaster with a couple of interesting twists. In the end a satisfying experience.

Wesley Snipes returns as Neil Shaw, now an ex-special operative, who earns his dough by consulting Hollywood action flicks. The money is good and leaves enough time to hone the body and martial arts skills. The good life ends, when Shaw receives word of Mom, cross-dresser, special op, mentor and teacher, being killed in a freak robbery. But was this really an accident? Shaw teams up with Melina Cruz, the out-of-marriage daughter of Mom. The plot thickens, when his friend and employer Garret, an actor with his sights on the US Senate, is subject to a botched assassination attempt.

Yes. It has flaws, especially the overusing of the shaky cam, but hell... so does 90% of movies nowadays. Also SFX are a bit iffy, but that shouldn't lower the satisfaction from watching the flick. Definitely on a lower level than the original, but all in all I did feel entertained and don't really feel the need to nitpick. Wesley Snipes stays fit and is appealing to watch, no matter how appalling the said role. This one however wasn't even half-bad and Snipes carries the movie decently. Forgettable, passable, but in the end not a total waste of time, if you want to chill.

That said I did watch this one straight after "Brutal" (2007), which makes it seem a masterpiece in comparison.

Wesley Snipes would have been better off using the money to make this movie to pay his taxes.

The original Art of War was decent yet part 2 is absolutely horrendous. Its like watching a train wreck. Snipes tries to act which is never a good thing. His best movies are where he does very little acting and has very little dialog with a lot of action.

The Art of War: Betrayal, is a worse than the typical Snipes vehicle and is headed straight to DVD. Maybe Snipes can watch it in prison and learn from his mistakes. The film is obviously shot in Vancouver, BC (to escape US taxes) with a few scenes filmed in Washington State however the story is set entirely in LA.

The cinematography is decent (overly trendy and often too techy) however the plot, dialog, acting, directing and casting are all horrible.

There are so many ludicrous moments in this film its sad. One of the worst is at the beginning where Snipes' character is being paid as a subject matter expert on a Hollywood film. Snipes' character offers a line of critical advice on an action scene and then swaggers off scene while the entire crew looks at him in awe.

If you are looking for a highly implausible, totally unbelievable and predictable film with a lot of bad acting(aka your typical Snipes film) I would still recommend you look elsewhere for mindless entertainment.