Rogue - L'ultime affrontement

Reasons to see WAR

WAR kicks ass, and you should see it a lot of times, for these reasons:

• Jason Statham yelling at people, and then kicking ass. In other words, being himself.

• Jet Li killing a guy by kicking him in the face....and that's not his best kill.

• Random girls getting nude for no reason.

• Ninjas. Just when you think this movie couldn't rock any harder, they put Ninjas in the movie.

• A twist ending that would make M. Night Shawhocares *beep* himself.

• A car chase every 10 minutes. There's even one with motorcycles.

• Violence. Lots of it. Guns, blades, blood, kungfu, decapitations, the bases are covered.

-Jet Li and Jason Statham fighting each other. It's as epic as you might think.

So, in conclusion, if you, 1. Like things that are awesome. 2. Have a pair of testicles. 3. Need to see a movie that rocks for a change. 4. Are a human being.

...than WAR is for you.

This is a man's film. They really should be selling brats and beer in the theaters for attendees. Anyone going to a film with jet Li or Jason Statham should know what to expect. Going to a film with the two of them and you know there is going to be blood, violence, killing, action, noise, and an eventual winner. If this is not your cup of tea, go see The Nanny Diaries and leave this to the fan boys.

This is not their first film together. They both appeared in The One six years ago. This time they are the leads and on opposing sides - Statham an FBI agent and Li a contract killer. The action takes place in the middle of a Yakuza war in San Francisco.

Fans of Jet Li will not be disappointed. he still has all the moves even if he is 47; however, he does rely more on swords and guns, and other weapons in this film. Statham is Li's equal and gives as good as he gets. The story has an interesting twist which i will not give a clue on as it is a major plot point.

Interesting entertainment by girls in cages at the Yakuza club. I thought that went out in the 60s, but it was a nice diversion.

This film is red meat. It has no pretensions of quality and dialog is minimal, which goes along with the story. If you are a fan, you will be entertained. If you are not, why are you there?

War walks in the footsteps of movies like Kiss of the Dragon, and the Transporter series. It blends martial arts with stylized shoot 'em up action fairly well to create visually stunning action sequences. One of War's strong points, is that none of these action sequences feel too contrived or pointless; most of them advance the plot in some matter. War attempts to blend it's action with a surprisingly compelling story line, the film's build up unfortunately falls apart in it's lack luster third act.

Jason Statham plays Jack Crawford, a special ops agent in L.A. (we never truly know the unit he's a part of, but face it, it's not important). L.A. is seeing the beginning of a gang war between two Japanese gangs, the Changs and the Triads. As he investigates, it soon becomes apparent that an assassin by the name of Rogue (Jet Li) is involved, the same assassin that killed Statham's partner 3 years ago. This story line seems to be the weaker one of two that are explored in the movie. The more intriguing one involves Rogue who seems to be playing on both sides of the playing field. This moves the movie forward as his dark agenda is slowly revealed.

The movie lends itself to some interesting fight sequences, shoot outs and sword fights. There is a brief chase sequence between Statham and Li, but it feels like an afterthought. The action is spread out well over the 100 minute running time, there are no real slow spots and yet unlike many of Statham's earlier works (Crank) it does give you a chance to breathe. We're treated to one or two exciting twists that tie up a lot of the intrigue before the final act. This is where War begins to slip, it is a very successful action thriller for the first ninety minutes, it's the brief closing that doesn't satisfy.

The ending feels forced and leaves you unsatisfied. It's unnecessarily bleak and doesn't really fit with the rest of the movie. They should have cut the final ten minutes of the movie and replaced them with a tighter ending. But, even accounting for this, War still succeeds in being a solid action thriller. Perhaps if it does well we'll be treated to a sequel that will pick up the pieces of the disappointing ending.

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.

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.