PLEASE NOTE: There are some spoilers in this ePinion. You've been warned.
I tend to analyze performances and characters more than the actual story itself, so if you're looking for a plot synopsis then I'll just provide the basic hypewritten paragraph from the artofwarmovie.com official movie website:
"When ruthless terrorists threaten to bring down the United Nations, they frame the one man they believe can stop them — an international security expert named Shaw. Now he must run from his own allies and become a solitary force for good, as he tries to stop what could become World War III."
Yes, Wesley Snipes (Shaw) is framed. And yes, he may run from allies. But there is really no intense threat of World War III exhibited in the film. And if there was, my attention span was gone before it got thrown into dialogue.
Now, I don't think Wesley Snipes is a bad actor. I just think he puts himself in the wrong movies. I liked him in "Passenger 57" (directed by Kevin Hooks) and I liked him in "One Night Stand" (Mike Figgis of "Leaving Las Vegas" fame).
The Art of War, however, just seems to be another bad choice. Even with Donald Sutherland (recently in Space Cowboys), Anne Archer (Patriot Games) and Michael Biehn (Terminator, Navy SEALS) a veteran line of actors and actresses can't save this film.
Newcomer Marie Matiko is a very attractive actress and I think she had the potential to play a stronger role as journalist Julia, but they really, and I mean really, objectify her in the film. Rather than create a tough and sexy supporting character it seems that the writers and director Christian Duguay take as many opportunities as they can to feature her as sexy more so than any kind of tough supporting actress ("take off all your clothes... you're bugged").
It could just be me, but this sounds like the screenwriters were sitting in a room thinking, "Hey I know, she's hot and she's Asian. Let's show as much skin as we can to keep this a maximum guy flick." Hey, I'm all for adrenaline-pumping action and beautiful women on film, but when it gets this obvious and objectified, it doesn't work for me. I personally prefer characters like Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) from The Matrix) or Mace (Angela Bassett in "Strange Days") - strong characters that actually kick some ass. Julia in "Art of War" seems to me like an errand runner throughout the entire film, tied down to Shaw's (Snipe's) investigative requests, a semi-damsel-in-distress if you will.
While Donald Sutherland and Anne Archer play characters from the United Nations, both performances aren't very satisfactory. Sutherland (as Douglas Thomas) isn't strong as we'd expect an actor of his caliber, and Archer (as United Nations conspirator Eleanor Hooks) delivers her dialogue like she should be in some comic-book-to-film adaptation.
Visual effects in the film are not bad, but some are completely unnecessary. Some of the gimmicks they throw include bullet-time and some John Woo style action. In the final sequence of the film Shaw and an enemy have their guns aimed at each other. Surprise! Both are out of ammo! This film is supposed to offer something new, come on.
Don't get your hopes up high - if you saw the bullet-time snippet on the TV ads for this film, that's the only scene that features its unimpressive display.
In the Matrix, bullet-time is used to enhance the story (since the Matrix is a computer simulation, its understandable that we are seeing combat in slow motion, keeping us aware that the world itself in the Matrix is not real). In the Art of War, however, the effect is just an attempt to "ooh" and "ahh" the audience without any special relation to the narrative itself. I nearly raised my hands up in the air going, "what the heck was that for?". Total cheese. Even the fighting itself was horribly choreographed.
Probably the only redeeming thing about this film was the soundtrack (by Normand Corbeil). I'm talking about the orchestral / contemporary pieces of course, not that 'featured' rap song at the end credits.
Finally, am I going to have to make a film myself in order to see an Asian-themed action film in New York that ISN'T about Asians being oppressed in sweat shops or Asian women sitting naked next to businessmen willing to pay up for some sexual favors? Blah. Everything in this film has been done before. Even if they are trying to do everything in one package, they don't do it well.
Take my advice. Avoid this film. Watch "The Matrix" again instead.
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