Customer Reviews

The Art of War

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(21)

 

 

"The Art of War" was a pleasant surprise when I rented it. Once you get past the admitedly far-fetched premise that the UN has its own covert ops teams, it emerges as a spy movie that remembers how to be a spy movie. Rather than going the James Bond/Mission Impossible route of pitting a super-human spy agaisnt a supervillian, "The Art of War" serves up old-fashioned twists, turns, secrets, lies, betrayals, and assassination attempts.

Another nice thing about this movie is that it seems to understand the nature of post-Cold War politics. Nations now clash with treaties, trade agreements, and capitalist aspirations. By addressing issues such as the WTO, human traficking, and China's emerging status as an economic superpower, I got the distinct impression that the screenwriters actually read the newspaper. Ultimately, the plot doesn't quite hold up, but it's an admirable effort.

Snipes does a great job, never lightening the tone by playing to the cheap seats. By playing it straight he makes the film that much more believable. His fight scenes--including the end shootout feating slow-mo bullet-time--are both thrilling and plausible in a way that "The Matrix's" cgi-enhanced action can't manage.

Finally, the film just *looks* great. Director of Photography Pierre Gill plausibly passes off a lot of Canadian locations as Hong Kong and New York. He gives these cities a glossy sheen, a convincing grittiness, and a neon readiance, depending upon the scene.

All in all, I think if the movie had featured Tom Cruise or Keanu Reeves it would have been much better received. Too bad, since Snipes blows both of them off the screen. This one is definitely worth a look.

What's with the hate? I watched this movie numerous times. I liked it the first time but the movie gets better after you see it a few times because you start to pick things up that you missed. I am big fan of action films and this movie delivers, yes it predictable at times but what movie isn't. I thought the actors did a pretty good job also. The film also ended on a good note makes you feel good especially with the nice musical score the films has. Wish they would of actually made a score soundtrack for the film.

I'm watching this movie on tnt channel right now and ....WOW! Crazy-Great Movie!! Wesley is at his BEST with ACTION films. This is a GOTTA Have Dvd for sure!!!

I've seen some bad movies. Some horrible movies in fact, but nothing, absolutely nothing, as bad as this. This is the result if you take bad editing, stolen scenes, and no plot and throw money at it.

From the beginning where Neil Shaw (Wesley Snipes) gets in a fight at a major event and the event "never happened" to the public to the scene where a sniper kills a major diplomat at a major U.N. event. Does no one have security details in these things?

His intuition of bombs in backpacks and the events that happened in the translators apartment are also quite unbelievable. If he's that talented shouldn't he be working for Ms. Cleo instead of risking his butt?

The ending to this movie is a direct rip off of "The Matrix", unfortunately neither of the characters are superheroes so it comes off as ridiculous.

Don't Waste your Money. And someone please convince Wesley Snipes not to waste his time or talent.

Maury Chaykin is the only redeeming thing this movie has to offer, hence the two stars. Maury Chaykin played Nero Wolfe in A&E's adaptation of Rex Stout's THE GOLDEN SPIDERS. He was astonishingly good as the neurotic Wolfe, and made a tepid story-line a fascinating watch.

In the abysmal ART OF WAR, Maury Chaykin hilariously plays a droll FBI agent, and relays the surreality of this farce of a movie by having a great time in his character. He alone is the only reason to watch this movie; his is a class act performance in relation to the rest of the poorly conceived and executed movie.

THE ART OF WAR pretentiously tries to adopt some of Sun Tzu's maxims, but coming at the end of a goofy flick, one is more embarrassed by their employ than anything else. Although this movie is really about watching Wesley Snipes wander around vandalizing things and beating people up, they could at least have attempted to gin up a less shabby premise.

Anyone who reads a newspaper will be totally bemused by the sorry devices parsed out as intellegient geopolitics. First of all, the United Nations does not negotiate trade treaties, does not have anything to do with the North and South Korean negotiations, and certainly does not mediate bilateral trade agreements between China and the United States. Second of all, the UN is a factionalized, marginally coherent entity that can barely keep its own paperwork in order, let alone conduct supersecret covert operations with a bunch of silly sassy spies. It'd take everyone about two seconds to find out about it, and the UN Security Council members would promptly jail any UN Secretary General that tried anything that stupid. This movie presents a total misunderstanding of what the UN does and how it is organized. Thirdly, any prominent Chinese businessman that can buy and sell hotels on a whim would hardly jeopardize his position with a bunch of small-patatoes sweat-shops and smuggling operations. Fourthly, any diabolically "clever" conspiracy would hardly be based on the ham-handed right-wing politics that are demonized in this movie. There is also a total misunderstanding of elite policy perspectives in the US. The attempt to frame this movie as politically adept because it so blatantly advocates UN supremacy certainly does can't get around the fact that the political subtext is presented so atrociously.

All of this makes the formulaic plot, underwhelming action scenes, and embarrassingly banal premise the ingredients of a movie that should never, ever have been made. It's no wonder that this movie has elicited nothing from the world but a collective yawn.

Most people can't differentiate between a bad film and a film they don't like. Many people didn't like this motion picture because of its liberal subtext. That doesn't make it a bad film. Most don't realize that this is a Canadian production, and that probably explains the political slant. However, as action films go, it is intelligent, high tech, stimulating, bordering on believable (seldom are action flicks actually believable), with plenty of violence. I didn't particularly agree with its "New World Order" message, but it is still a solid film.

The main criticism I have of the film is the editing. In an attempt to make the story more intriguing, it is pasted together in a convoluted way that makes it very difficult to follow. All the factions and motivations are eventually explained, but one has to pay very close attention or see the movie a few times to catch them all. The screenplay suffers from an excess of subplots, which makes following the story that much more difficult. The biggest sin committed by the producers and director was that they did not understanding their audience. This film targets action lovers, who are a visceral lot. They want to be stimulated, not confused and intrigued. They also tend to be more conservative politically (God, Guns, Guts). So naturally, the film bombed.

Wesley Snipes delivers a strong performance in the intelligent action hero role. Snipes seems to be locked in the action genre when he is really too bright for the roles he plays. He should take a lesson from Samuel L. Jackson and look for scripts that are more dramatic. Jackson still does action films (Shaft), but he picks parts portraying complex characters and scripts with strong character development, instead of straight macho testosterone parts. Snipes would have done well in some of the roles Jackson has had. Anne Archer does a fine job as the manipulative career diplomat, pulling everyone's strings behind the scenes. Donald Sutherland is a bit flaccid in this film, but his character really didn't have a lot of bite.

Overall, this film is a strong entry into a genre dominated by mindless body count. I rated it an 8/10. Those who like their action flicks to be completely believable subtract two points. Subtract another two points for those who don't like confounding story lines. For those who abhor screen violence, don't even bother.

Well first off let me start by saying I don't care what people say about the movie or Snipes, it was a great movie. For those who think different, they didn't really see the movie or botherd to take a look at the time frame of when it was created. I have seen almost all of Wesley's action films but this one is the best to date next to blade. From the suspence to the martial art action sequences, Snipes delivers. When watching the movie I understood exactly what was going on just by the actions of the characters alone. He worked for the UN and was setup by the UN is the whole story in a nut shell but the trip taking to find out the truth makes the movie worth watching. If your looking for some action that involves a twist of Martial arts and spy technology this is one film to add to your list. I only wish Wesley Snipes can bring that much energy and more in his films over the next few years(if of course he dosen't go to jail).

I really liked this movie. I saw the other reviews and was surpised by them.

I bought the movie really on the back of films like Blade, Passenger 57 and US Marshals. Its a good action film, one that holds your interest and is watchable again and again.

Not sure I take my films as seriously as some others...I didn't see this as some American or UN jingoistic offering, I just saw Wesley beat the bad guys! ...and it was fun!

If you like films like Mission Impossible, Chain Reaction, Three Kings, The Fugitive, etc... then I think you'll find this enjoyable.

This movie reminded me so much of the first offering of Mission Impossible, starred, Tom Cruise. Shaw (played by Wesley Snipes) didn't exist but worked behind the scene on United Nations' behalf to influence the decision making process. Thing started to get awry when his task as an observer to Chinese Ambassador went horribly wrong. Instead of being a puppet master, Shaw became the puppet. Associates that worked with him (notably Michael Biehn of Terminator, Aliens fame) were murdered. Police & FBI were on his tail as Shaw was framed (predictably). By coincidence, he bumped into an attractive female journalist who eventually worked along his side to solve the puzzle & to clear his name. Art of War, by Sun Tzu was touched upon briefly here, asking the question who should we trust. What annoyed me about the movie was the usage of Japanese to play Chinese characters. For discerning viewers, the supposedly Mandarin & Cantonese they spoke in the movie were hardly legible. To my pleasant surprise, the cinematography of the movie was quite innovative & fast paced. Donald Sutherland was more into a cameo appearance, Anne Archer acted as Shaw's superior, Murray Chaulkin led a solid supporting cast. Overall, an above average action thriller with a predictable predicament but still, a well-made movie. It could almost be rendered as a Chinese bashing movie but we wouldn't go there.

A dissapointment from Wesley Snipes. There is enough confusion in the beginnig to make the movie interesting. But the movie soon ran out the steam. The action sequences are too far fetched, like jumping from 2 stories high without breaking his leg, and the final shoot out sequence make you go "yah, right". The movie only made reference to Sun-Tzu's book "Art of War" once the whole entire movie. I expected better performance from Wesley Snipes.