War

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!

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.

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.

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!

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.