WAR (aka. ROGUE ASSASSIN, Asian title) is the 2nd movie that puts together Jason Statham and Jet Li. Remember, “The One”? I don’t blame you; I barely recall the film myself. This film has a very interesting cast; two popular action stars set to collide in the big screen. With fight choreography by Corey Yuen, it looks very promising. Did it deliver on its expectations? (I’ve been reviewing too many Korean films of late so I thought I’d review one that I saw in theaters months ago, my draft has just been sitting in my computer)
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An F.B.I. agent named Jack Crawford (Jason Statham) is obsessed in finding his partner’s killer and bringing the assassin called “Rogue” (Jet Li) to justice. Rogue is a ruthless killer, apparently if the Yakuza wants someone taken care of; they send this cold and accurate assassin. After disappearing from sight for a few years, Rogue resurfaces in the San Francisco Bay Area. Apparently, he has switched sides, and is now working for the Chinese Triad headed by Chang (John Lone). Jack is so fixated in nabbing Rogue that his very presence fills him with rage. However, Rogue takes Jack’s presence as very entertaining and quite amusing. It seems that Rogue has a hidden agenda…
Music video director Philip Atwell is at the helm with “War”; his experience filming music videos certainly shows in this outing. The style is pretty routine and nothing is spectacular. One thing I can say, is that most of the sequences weren’t shot in San Francisco; (I live in San Francisco so I can tell) wherever it WAS filmed it was so convenient. Yakuza territory is made of Sushi bars and Triad territory is mostly, well, Chinese food places. The Asian gangsters have the usual stereotype inherent in other action films. I did find the fetish in Asian clubs quite amusing.
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The last time I saw Jet Li as the antagonist was in Lethal Weapon 4; Li upstages Statham in terms of dynamic charisma, he portrays Rogue as a silent but intense presence. Statham’s character seemed a bit too clichéd, and suffers too much from the same old “cop-on-the-edge” gimmick. Li plays a good anti-hero as Rogue, with his classic manipulations to set the Triad against Yakuza. The classic manipulations kind of reminded me of older films, I couldn’t put my finger on it until my friend mentioned Yojimbo and Shogun Assassin. The Yakuza crime lord is played by Ryu Ishibashi (Cure) with his daughter played by hottie Devon Aoki (D.O.A.). It was obvious that Aoki is in the film for eye-candy and not much else.
Not to say that the screenplay lacked inspiration. The interesting plot twists seemed poised to turn the film into something quite good. The first twist showed some promise although it may require a large suspension of disbelief; we are expected to believe that everything is just so well executed and calculated. I almost don’t want to mention the 2nd twist, because they should have stopped with the first one. The second twist made the movie seemed a bit overcooked; it seemed too forced. It called too much attention to itself to astonish without any credibility. I cannot disclose anymore information because I may end up spoiling the film a little. I really felt like the film would have ended better. (I’m curious to see if the dvd will have an alternate ending, It certainly needs one) The plot devices/twists seemed more fit in a police morality drama, but in a standard action film, the pacing seemed to hamper the film a little.
Now did the film at least actually deliver on the fight sequences? Well, there are ninjas and a decent routine swordfight. We even see Kane Kosuji in action (for a few seconds anyway). The film is pretty solid as a commercial/mainstream action movie. There is a lot of marketing devices; gang conflicts with a few effective twists and turns, a hint of nudity, some T & A, cardboard cutout characters, blood with kinetic action sequences. The film isn’t so bad as long as one remembers its target audience; testosterone-laden males (like me). Action director Corey Yuen made better action scenes before, but for action junkies, it may still prove diverting.
WAR is a MIXED bag, it doesn’t offer anything we haven’t seen before. It has the potential to become a truly fresh and entertaining action film, but it stumbles in the standard plot devices and the routine conflicts. The action sequences are decent, but somewhat lacking in intensity and emotion. Emotion plays an important part an excellent fight scene; the direction just didn’t make the effort to show such emotional impact.
There is just something missing in “War” that it wasn’t as effective as I wanted it to be. I’ve seen a lot of great action sequences, and the ones in “War” are definitely not in the upper tier. If you’re a Jet Li fan, you’ve definitely seen him in MUCH better fight sequences such as in my personal favorite; “Kiss of the Dragon” (modern action) or in his past Hong Kong films. To its credit, (at the very least) the fight scenes are better than the ones in “Cradle to the Grave” but only by a hair.
Maybe I’ve just seen too many Asian action films.
Timidly Recommended for action fanatics and a good rental for everybody else. [3 ½ stars]
**** 1/2
for an action fan, the expectations are going to be very high considering the actors. Jet Lee and Jason Statham are arguably the best action stars around these days.
while the action doesnt quite deliver as heavily as i hoped, the movie was fantastic. essentially its a cat and mouse story, Statham plays the vengeful federal agent, hellbent on tracking down his criminal. Jet Lee plays an international hitman, who killed Statham’s partner. its going to be nearly impossible to find because he’s always getting reconstructive surgery and changing his identity. now, four years later, he may just be back on the trail, thanks to a rare bullet, the exact same style used to kill his partner.
its a much darker story with little or no of the comedy found in a lot of Statham’s roles, but its a strong, dark, well written action-drama that pushes all the right buttons. the acting was good all around, just as solid as you’d expect from the leads, all the minor characters play their roles believably.
the fight scenes didnt quite stack up to my expectations, but anyone older than five should realize, when the movies done, there was a lot more going on than a straight “shoot em up” action movie. not that it would’ve been a bad thing. i would give Crank that generalization, and its my favorite of Statham’s films.
in the end, if you like action with a story, jet lee, or jason statham, at leased give it a rental.
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