Customer Reviews

The Art of War II:Betrayal

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I've been stunned by the career of Wesley Snipes. Forget the whole IRS issue from this past year. It has nothing to do with his acting ability or star power. But for someone to rise from bit parts to starring roles and then suddenly find himself in direct to video films, one has to question...what happened? Especially when he turns in a decent movie like THE ART OF WAR II: BETRAYAL.

Snipes returns as agent Neil Shaw, having gone underground at the end of the first film. Shaw receives word that his mentor and martial arts instructor, Mother, has passed away. At the funeral service, Shaw and the rest of those gathered meet the daughter no one knew Mother had. Heather (Athena Karkanis) talks with Shaw, blaming him for Mother's death only to change her mind later.

From there, Shaw goes to work as a consultant on a movie set where he has become friends with the star, Garrett (Lochlyn Munro). Invited to his boat, Shaw learns that Garrett is about to run for the Senate. It is then that he asks for Shaw's help with an apparent blackmailer. But as with all good spy/thriller films, nothing is what it seems.

As Shaw begins to dig into the possibilities, he also comes into contact with a Senator Carlson (Rachel Hayward), running once more for office and under observation by Shaw's old nemesis, Becker (Eric Brecker). It seems that there is an assassination attempt in store for the Senator and Shaw is on the case, unofficially of course, searching for not only the killer but the person behind the sanction.

Following up on leads, Shaw shows at a political cocktail party to question another Senator. Unfortunately for Shaw, the Senator has been murdered and he has been set up to take the fall. Downloading material from the Senator's computer, he escapes and heads out to get the help of a computer whiz kid friend to find out just what he's come across.

The information provided puts Shaw back in harms way as well as his friends. While Shaw continues to search for the person who set him up for murder, Becker and his crew begin searching for Shaw through his friends beginning with Heather. On the lam with Heather in tow, Shaw cautiously puts together the pieces, linking the Senators to an arms developer named Sallas (Michael Phenicie). The question remains, who is behind Sallas?

While the movie at first seems to wind around different roads in search of something to pull them together, in the end it all becomes clear. The leads that Shaw finds make sense and come closer together with each new clue. What appears to be at first confusing makes perfect sense by films end.

Action is what Snipes career is all about since he starred in PASSENGER 57 and the BLADE films. And those looking for the typical Snipes action are in for a treat. The fight sequences seen here are not only well put together but filmed to advantage as well. The entire look of the film is top notch.

It's been 8 years since Snipes played the character of Neil Shaw. His abilities have not dwindled in that time. This takes us back to the initial question I had. What happened to Snipes career? Why has he gone from top billing on the big screen to direct to DVD features that show he is as competent as always? Perhaps only those in power in Hollywood have the answer. In the meantime, we can still enjoy the product Snipes offers, delivering the goods with each outing.

I liked this actually i thought it may have been maybe somewhat dull like the contractor but it was better than that, not as good as the first art of war, the fights were cool, nice action flick overall.

I was pleasantly surprised by Art of War 2. This movie flew under my radar in the theaters somehow. I didn't even hear about it until now (Dec 2008). For those reasons, I didn't expect much but I'm glad I was wrong. Wesley is a cool character in a role similar to the Bond and Bourne movies. Action is always around the corner with lots of stunts and martial arts. There is a heavy dose of martial arts as it seems everyone he fights knows it and knows it fairly well. I highly recommend Art of War 2 for anyone looking for more Wesley Snipes movies or something along the lines of Bond or Bourne action.

It's pretty bad when the photography is so dark and so lacking in detail, that it makes the watching experience absolutely painful. Add to that the non existent script and lackluster acting and you have to wonder what film the positive reviewers were watching. Not worth the time, money or effort. Just another paycheck straight to DVD loser by Snipes. Sad to see such talent now doing these toilet bowl cleaner efforts. About as good as the excrement which it should be placed next to in the commode. Trash.

"The Art of War II: Betrayal" is a straight-to-DVD film starring Wesley Snipes. I think this is worse than his "The Contractor" and even "The Detonator."

In "The Art of War II: Betrayal" Wesley Snipes plays Neil Shaw, a retired special agent now working for a movie star Garret (Lochlyn Munro) as action consultant. When his martial arts sensei is murdered, Neil is approached by a mysterious woman named Heather (Athena Karkanis) at his funeral, who claims she is a daughter of the dead master, and Neil is responsible for the death of her father.

The film never takes off with its plodding pace and the confusing plot that is unnecessarily twisted. There are a gun-wielding government operative and a corrupt big company leader out to kill a senator. I don't mind the weak storyline and these stock characters provided the film delivers good actions. Sorry, it doesn't. Josef Rusnak (who did a pretty impressive job with the sci-fi thriller "The Thirteenth Floor" starring Gretchen Mol) needs a better action choreographer. The action sequences, shoot-outs and martial arts fighting alike, are lackluster and unexciting, greatly damaged by amateurish editing. Also, the climax is unintentionally funny with cheesy special effects. Don't miss what happens to the villain at the end.

You know, the title of "The Art of War" came from the teaching of Sun Tzu, which are too good for this mess.

Wesley Snipes has always been a main-eventer in my book regardless of his ranking in Hollywood, so it's nice that even in the middle of his DTV doldrums he's been able to produce a respectable action movie like this. I've never seen the original Art of War but the sequel here seems to stand well enough on its own. The movie's insistence on a plotline that may or may not intrigue eventually keeps it from a higher rating, but compared to the other fare that Snipes appeared in during this part of his career, it's decidedly superior.

The story: upon being called out retirement at the death of his sensei, agent Neil Shaw (Snipes) finds himself in the midst of a plot to assassinate several government officials with himself framed for one of them.

The movie's directed by The Thirteenth Floor's Josef Rusnak, and while he couldn't keep a handful of minor DTV-isms out of the studio's final cut of the movie (e.g. flashbacks, unnecessary slow motion), its overall quality is superior, making it appear like more than a low-budget production more often than not. The film's too full of its own story, however: writer Jason Bourque has penned some noteworthy stuff, but he devoted too much time here to characters walking/sitting around and talking about who did what and why; these lengthy exchanges should definitely have been briefer. It gets boring to the point that I didn't even remember the names of supporting characters played by Lochlyn Munro (White Chicks) and Athena Karkanis (Saw IV) until I looked them up for this review.

I doubt that Wesley Snipes will ever top his martial arts offerings from the Blade movies, but he does pretty good here - at least better than the majority of his other stuff I've seen. Four fight scenes are of generally decent quality, occasionally peaking as downright satisfying for their length and technical quality. They're still mucked about with post-production editing and occasional close-ups, but - miracle of miracles - the DVD features alternative cuts of most of the fights (even one exchange that I don't really consider a fight), the majority of which improve upon the ones that made it into the movie. There's a bit of gunfighting, including a scene with an explosive missile gun, but when the movie isn't focusing on being a thriller, its action is almost entirely karate-based.

It's noteworthy that this is virtually the only film from this stage of Snipes' career that received any kind of official critical acclaim (a Leo Award nomination for the musical score), but I think that for most folks this one will fail to stand out in the video market. Nevertheless, fans of the man who've drifted from him following his general departure from Hollywood ought to take notice. I think that Wesley can do better, even on the DTV market, but this one's a pretty good standard to work off of. Check it out, if you're game.

Wesley Snipes is my favorite Actor of all times. I love him and I enjoy all of his movies. I already had "The Art Of War." Then I saw "The Are Of War 2 Betrayal" on Amazon and I bought it and love it so much. Suspence and Action from beginning to end. I didn't know who was betraying who. OMG! This was a movie that I didn't want anyone to disturb me. Don't even blink too much. This was hot with Wesley doing all kinds of fight moves that everyone will surely enjoy. I Love You Wesley Snipes and I love this movie Very much.

I'm a Snipes fan so I'm a little biased. I also really enjoyed the first movie and wanted to see this one, and I wanted it to be good. This one is no comparison to the first one and probably doesn't deserve 3 stars, but I'm a fan and the movie does have its moments.

The Art of War II: BetrayalThis one is about half as good as the original which I gave 4 stars. Snipes is as good as he always has been but I think poor writing and direction were where this one fell down. Lots of killing, lots of Snipes bravado, etc but I only purchased it because I hoped that it would be close to the first one which is very good.

"The Art of War II: Betrayal" is the sequel to one of Wesley Snipes' last movies released at the theaters. That film, while not perfect, was at least a passable attempt. This sequel demonstrates that Snipes needs better writing, better directing, better everything except martial arts skills, which is the only reason to watch this film.

The movie continues to follow the life of Neil Shaw, a secret agent who is now retired and working as a technical advisor on action movie. The star, a popular action movie performer, is also contemplating a run at political office. This coincides with the death of Shaw's martial arts instructor, whose death also reveals a long-estranged daughter.

The film goes on from there, and while the martial arts action is very well done, that's the only acceptable thing about the movie. The plot is convoluted, the staging shoddy, and the script is just plain lame. With the talent that Snipes possesses, it is a shame that he has to make films that are straight-to-video, much less make films like this one with very few redeeming qualities.