“War” is Barely Even a Battle
Martial arts can be one of the most amazing things to watch on the big screen. There are many martial arts films that transcend the boundary of your normal “Shoot ‘Em Up,” “Beat ‘Em Up” movies and enter the world of art.
So, not surprisingly, when I saw a poster for “War” a few months ago with Jet Li (“Fearless” and “The One”) and Jason Statham (“Transporter”) looking like they were going to face off, naturally I was excited.
Statham is one of America’s premiere martial artists. While his movies, such as “Transporter,” have paper-thin plots, the creative fight scenes more than make up for the lack of story. Li is, in my mind, the best on-screen martial artist I have seen since Bruce Lee. His Chinese movies such as “Fearless” and “Hero” are works of art. The martial art choreography is stunning to watch.
So, why is “War” so disappointing? Because it takes these two very talented men and does nothing with them. The movie relies too much on a flimsy plot and not enough on the sheer talent its stars possess.
And what’s worse than that? For some reason the creators thought it would be a good idea to use more guns than hand-to-hand combat. Anyone can shoot a gun in a movie. Why not let these guys fight it out?
Li plays a practically invisible hitman named Rouge, who’s working for the Japanese Yakuza, or is it the Chinese Triad? It’s never certain throughout the movie. Statham plays Jack Crawford, a no-holds-barred kind of FBI agent.
Both of them are trying to kill each other. Or are they? I have no idea. There’s a secret revealed at the end, a crummy secret. It’s anti-climatic to say the least.
“War” is a perfect example of a movie that had such potential to be something that could’ve really stood out. Instead, it’s just another lame “action” (and I use the term loosely here) movie where the two lead characters don’t even fight until the very end. And that fight is nothing to wait around for either.
Grade: D-