The Art of War III: Retribution (2009) (V)

Director:

Gerry Lively

Writer:

Joe Halpin (writer)

Genre:

Action | Thriller

Plot:

A Secret Agent must prevent North Korean terrorist from acquiring a nuclear device.

Plot Keywords:

Sequel | Returning Character With Different Actor | Direct To Video Sequel To Theatrical Movie | Third Part | Part Of Trilogy

Cast

Anthony 'Treach' Criss	...	Agent Neil Shaw
Warren Derosa	...	Jason
Sung Hi Lee	...	Sun Yi
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Delaney Barr	...	Little Girl
David Basila	...	Wakeen
Charles Chun	...	Byung Hoon
David Frye	...	Detective Halpin
Al Goto	...	Kim's Rifle Guard
John P. Gulino	...	Harold Zimmer
Lovake Heyer	...	Samad
Bach Hoang	...	Blond Prostitute
Steven Ho	...	Kim's Bodyguard #2
Leo Lee
J. Anthony Pena	...	Andersdon
Simon Rhee	...	Kim's Bodyguard #1
Cathy Shim	...	Reporter Cara Shim
Edward Spivak	...	Zimmer's Bodyguard
Dollar Tan	...	Thug #4
Toshi Toda	...	Jung

Also Known As:

Art of War 2 (USA) (working title)
The Art of War 3: Retribution (Europe: English title) (DVD title)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, brief language and sexual images.

Runtime:

USA:88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | Singapore:M18 (DVD rating) | Singapore:NC-16 | South Korea:15 | Australia:MA

Filming Locations:

Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Hollywood Media Bridge

Movie Connections:

Follows The Art of War (2000)

The Art of Bore, this time around

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

There's wrongs a doin' in Korea, it would seem, where a plan to merge the north and south factions of the country has upset a certain element and a political assassination is rumoured. So Agent Neil Shaw hops on a Korean Air (at least it wasn't Ryan Air!) flight with his partner and tries to stop it. But when a meeting goes bad and he gets framed again, he gets sucked in to another nightmare world of betrayal and red herrings.

The first direct to DVD sequel to The Art of War was surprising enough, but this third instalment, featuring the original character from the first two but with a different actor playing him in the shape of the far less charismatic Treach (Today You Die), came out of nowhere. The 18 certificate this time round promises more hard hitting, no holds barred action but the whole thing plays like a bad episode of Mission: Impossible, with a clichéd script, a banal Brit sidekick, the lamest gunfights ever put on film (where the good guys and bad guys fire at each other in the same way all the time and WITHOUT MOVING AROUND!!!) and a ridiculous, Latino flavoured love scene, all with the random quotes from the great Tsn Zu book coming thick and fast. So sh!t even Wesley Snipes wanted nothing to do with it. Nowadays that's really saying something. *