I do enjoy action movies and have seen several of them over the years. I ended up really like Jason Statham in The Transporter, Transporter 2, and Crank, so I was interested when I first saw a preview for his new movie War even though I wasn't really certain what would be going on in it.

Jack Crawford and Tom Lone were partners in the FBI investigating the Triad - Chinese mob - when they encountered a mysterious assassin. Not long after, Tom along with his wife and young daughter were killed by the assassin that Jack was sure went by the name Rogue. Three years later, Jack was divorced and still working in the FBI, mainly dealing with the Triad and the Yakuza - Japanese mob. Certain things happened that made Jack believe that Rogue was back and he was determined to finally catch him. It seemed like Rogue was stirring up trouble between the two groups for some reason.

I didn’t think that the plot for War was that complicated. It was mostly focused on Jack’s obsession with catching Rogue. The battle between the Triad and Yakuza seemed to just be added in as an excuse for there to be more shootings, chases, and fights. At one point Jack shared information with the few other agents that he was working with that helped to explain why the two groups hated each other so much. The explanation did make sense, but it still seemed like it was tossed in just to add a bit of conflict without enough development. The plot did work for the most part even though it could have been stronger.

There were a few twists included in War. I did feel like the first one worked with what had been going on even though it did sort of come out of nowhere. It did help to explain why a character did certain things and did make sense even if it wasn’t completely believable. There was another twist revealed not long after the first that I don’t think worked as well. It just seemed to pop out of nowhere and I didn’t think it was believable. It was almost like the screenwriter got to that point in the script and wasn’t sure what to do to end things and then pulled that idea out of thin air to wrap things up. I just didn’t think it worked at all.

War included a lot of action scenes throughout the movie. There were a few different explosions that caused all kinds of damage. There were a few chases, including one that involved motorcycles that were well done. Another chase ended with one car in an accident with the driver almost immediately leaving the car completely unharmed. Shooting happened in many scenes throughout the movie with several people being injured. There were a few sword fights too. A few people ended up losing body parts because of those swords. The movie got very violent at times and definitely deserved the R rating. This isn’t a movie for children or people who don’t like violent movies.

The trailers that I saw made a big deal about Statham and Li fighting each other in this movie. Both men are known for the fighting they’ve done in previous movies. Statham’s character did spend most of his time trying to find Rogue, but the two were actually together only briefly and only had one fight. It was well done, but it didn’t last that long which was a bit disappointing. I think Jack and Rogue were only together in two scenes and not much of anything happened in the first scene. Anyone looking forward to a lot of fighting between Li and Statham will be disappointed.

Tom and Jack were both married with children when War began. The majority of the movie took place three years later when Jack was divorced and didn’t have much of a relationship with his ex-wife. He did talk to her and wanted to make sure that Rogue didn’t go after her and their son, but that was it for their relationship. There were no romances in the movie. I think it would have been difficult to add something like that in anyway. One segment of the movie took place in a nightclub that did have naked women dancing. With the lighting in that scene, it was hard to see anything. There was one very brief sex scene that served no purpose and another topless woman later in the movie. People bothered by that type of female nudity will want to pick a different movie. Statham didn’t even take off his shirt once, which did disappoint me a bit since he does look very good without it.

Jack Crawford was a dedicated FBI agent trying to deal with the Triad and Yakuza. His obsession with catching Rogue caused his marriage to fail. He was very determined and seemed willing to do whatever he had to do to get Rogue. Jason Statham was fine in the part, though I have liked some of his other characters more. Jenny, his ex-wife, was only around in a few short scenes so Andrea Roth didn’t have much to do. Tom and his family were shown even less.

Rogue, the assassin working for the Triad before he decided to stir up trouble between them and the Yakuza for whatever reason. Stories about Rogue had been circulating for years and many people dismissed them as rumor. He was a vicious killer though he did a few things that seemed a bit out of character at times. Jet Li was fine in the part. He only spoke a few times, something that he also did for the character he played in Lethal Weapon 4.

Some of the other FBI agents were shown without them being developed in any way. They were just sort of there. I felt the same way about the members of the Triad and Yakuza that were shown for the most part as well. Kira, the daughter of the man in charge of the Yakuza did make a bigger impression. She fit right into the group and didn’t hesistate to use threats of violence to ensure things were done the way her father wanted.

Main Character

Devon Aoki - Kira
Terry Chen - Tom Lone
Luis Guzman - Benny
Jet Li - Rogue
John Lone - Chang
Andrea Roth - Jenny Crawford
Jason Statham - Jack Crawford

Phillip G. Atwell - Director

War was a decent enough action movie though it wasn’t anything special. I didn’t hate it or think it was a horrible movie. I just thought it could be better. I felt like the marketing for the movie really pushed the whole idea of Statham and Li fighting each other throughout the movie and that just didn’t happen. Their fans may enjoy the movie. I personally have liked Statham’s other movies more.

Jason Statham Movie Reviews
Cellular ~ Collateral ~ Crank ~ The Italian Job ~ The Pink Panther ~ The Transporter ~ Transporter 2 ~

Recommended: Yes

Movie Mood: Action Movie