***Slightly Spoilerish***
What do you call a film that does everything it promises to, and a little bit more, but simply isn\'t unique in any way? What do you call an action film that overloads on badass, but doesn\'t quite warrant a recommendation? Do you give it a 6/10 for being passable? A 7 for being slightly above average? What if you really enjoyed most of what you saw - could you bring yourself to scrutinize its faults? I guess the answers could be very different depending on who was reviewing the film. I\'m not quite sure what I\'m going to say as I begin this review, or what my final verdict will be. So come with me on this journey of self-discovery, would you?
War promised to be badass. It promised to be awesome. It promised to be cool. It fulfilled all of these promises, but its faults are many. First, the good:
The direction is usually good, in a flash-cutting new-wave action way. Jet Li\'s character is a flippin\' cold muthashucka, and there are some rather inventive action sequences. There\'s also a really unexpected twist that works, for the most part.
Sigh.
Now the bad:
The acting is atrocious for the most part. There\'s 2 or 3 Police Chief characters and none of them speak their lines with anything other than feigned sincerity and directness. Jason Statham gives a lackluster performance, considering what he\'s usually known for. There\'s the standard Black Character who punctuates every line with "Muthafucka," or refers to every person as "This muthafucka." It\'s all very typical.
Until you reach the twist, there are so many back-stabs and betrayals that there doesn\'t seem to be any rhyme or reason for them, and the viewer can experience physical dizziness from them. The ending presents us with an explanation for it all, but the whole thing is pretty disorienting up until then.
The runtime feels dramatically extended due to. breaks. in the. action. The final fight between Statham and Li could have been much more awesome, considering the quality of the fights before it and the fact that it was the entire selling point of the movie.
All of these problems, though, are secondary to my major gripe. The truth is revealed about 15 minutes prior to the ending, and if they had left it at that, there would be no reason for Statham and Li to fight anymore. So, of course, they had to insert a secondary twist, which feels half-assed, and totally changes the audience\'s perception of Statham\'s character. It seems that the line they flash back to from the beginning, "You never know who\'s working for who," was put there simply so it could be flashed back to at the end, and provide a reason for the final showdown. Pissed me off.
Finally, the ending is so sudden and abrupt that you\'re not sure what exactly you\'ve seen. Did XXXXX just get shot? Does the final line have any relevance to or continuity with the rest of the story leading up to it? Why do we need to see ***** get into his car and drive off into the world? Is he going to become an actual _ _ _ _ _? Does that make sense in conjunction with the rest of the plot? That one\'s easy: no it doesn\'t.
In War, you can see a glint of a good movie. What we\'re left with is a slightly above or below average action flick, depending on your perspective. Sneak in after Halloween next week or get it in the 4 for 30 bin at Blockbuster in 6 months. It\'s about that good.
"War" opens August 24, 2007 and is rated R. Action. Directed by Philip G Atwell. Written by Lee Anthony Smith, Gregory J. Bradley. Starring Jason Statham, Jet Li, Luis Guzman, Devon Aoki, John Lone.
