War (Widescreen Edition)
by Philip G. Atwell
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DVD details
Actor: Devon Aoki, Jason Statham, Jet Li, John Lone, Nadine VelazquezDirector: Philip G. Atwell
Brand: LION'S GATE ENTERTAINMENT
Producer: Christopher Petzel
Producer: Jim Thompson
Producer: John Sacchi
Producer: Joseph P. Genier
Producer: Michael Paseornek
Writer: Gregory J. Bradley
Writer: Lee Anthony Smith
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language)
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.40:1
Running Time: 103 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-01-01
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Lions Gate
DVD Reviews of War (Widescreen Edition)
DVD Review: This War Is Good For Absolutely Nothing...
Summary: 2 Stars
I have mixed feelings when it comes to watching martial arts movies. I enjoy them when there is a good story, energetic action sequences, and engaging actors filling the roles. However, I'm not a big fan of the martial arts epics where I have to read subtitles all the time to know what exactly is being said, and I generally don't get much out of the fantasy-style fight scenes in the martial arts films that seem to be more popular these days. Sure, they can be fun to watch, but they are so obviously fake that it's distracting, that type of fighting style belongs in science-fiction ("The Matrix" for example), but not here. Me, I prefer to see the kind of martial arts films that are set in a more realistic world, where the fights seem to be natural and don't appear to use as much obvious wirework, though I don't mind if some of the fight sequences get a little out there in terms of believability, after all something must be said for style, just so much as it's not all the time. Examples of the kind of martial arts films I prefer to watch would be the `Transporter' films starring Jason Statham or "Unleashed" starring Jet Li. Both Jet Li and Jason Statham generally make successful box office action movies, though I tend to prefer Jason Statham's movies over Jet Li's (Li tends to make more of the fantastical, martial arts epics that aren't my cup of tea), but when the two came together in the recent action film "War", I figured this movie has the possibility of being one of the best martial arts action films to date, I mean with these two together how could it miss. So, after it was released to DVD I proceeded to rent it at my earliest convenience, and once home I was ready to sit back and enjoy a thrill-a-minute, action packed ride. But did this "War" live up to its potential or was it merely good for absolutely nothing?
"War" focuses on FBI agent Jack Crawford (Jason Statham) who has spent many years of his career endlessly pursuing the world's deadliest assassin named Rogue (Jet Li). Most believe that Jack is pursuing a ghost, that Rogue is merely a mythical figure created by the Asian gangs to gain more power and instill fear into their enemies. However, after Jack's partner was killed by a man who leaves all the familiar traces of Rogue, Jack vows to hunt the killer down no matter the cost. As his quest for vengeance intensifies, Jack finds himself being pulled deeper and deeper into the middle of a war between two rival Asian gangs, where death is but a misstep away, and nothing is what it seems.
Here's a movie that really frustrated me after I finished watching it. For the most part, I enjoyed "War", I felt that it had a good story, incredible action sequences, the acting was solid, and the characters even had some depth to them, which is surprising for this type of movie. So, after enjoying the movie for roughly 85% of the almost 2 hours running time, about 15 minutes from the end of the movie the whole experience just falls completely to pieces. What went wrong, you ask? Well, sometimes a film tries too hard to throw the audience for a loop by inserting a sudden twist in the story, and as a result sometimes everything ends up crumbling faster than it was built over the duration of the film.
Such was the case with "War", the writers Lee Anthony Smith and Gregory J. Bradley (first feature film for each) had crafted a fairly solid story that managed to keep my attention from the very beginning of the film, but then with one little twist intended to shock the audience, they managed to ruin the entire story and their engaging characters that had been created in the process. I was left feeling like I had basically wasted the last 2 hours of my life, the time I had invested in the story and the characters was pretty much erased by one pointless plot point created by two writers that wanted to shake things up in their story to avoid the, albeit predictable, obligatory showdown between the two leads that should have been the highlight for the entire film. What we were left with was the most disappointing moment in the entire film, resulting in a letdown of a martial arts film that could have been one of the better of the genre given the talents brought together.
As disappointed as I was by "War", there were some high points to the film along the way. The actors were all good, at least the primary actors, the countless thugs working for the Asian gangs were essentially stock villains good for nothing other than being beaten by FBI agent Jack Crawford (Jason Statham). Jason Statham was very good as Jack, he played him as a man obviously torn by the decisions that he's made since his partner's death, and the results of those decisions, yet he was filled with an unyielding resolve to bring his partner's killer to justice. Jet Li delivered yet another good performance, though not as nuanced or emotional as his character in "Unleashed", he still manages to give audiences a strong, yet conflicted character that will kill without hesitation one moment then show compassion for others the next, and above all else he will remain true to himself. The direction under first time feature film director Philip G. Atwell was fairly typical for an action film, full of quick cuts, frantic camera movements, and of course filling the entire screen with as much mayhem as possible during the overblown and entertaining action sequences. Sadly, these positives, along with some other ones that I didn't list, were not enough to keep "War" going strong from start to finish.
Overall, "War" is an entertaining action film for a majority of the running time, but one plot twist manages to ruin the entire movie. If you're a fan of Jet Li or Jason Statham, do yourself a favor and rent one of their better movies that will leave you with much more of a satisfactory ending, such as "Unleashed" or "The Transporter".
"War" is rated R for violence, language, and nudity/sexuality.
Description of War (Widescreen Edition)
After his partner is brutally murdered by the infamous assassin Rogue (Jet Li) FBI agent Jack Crawford (Jason Statham) vows to find the elusive killer and personally avenge his partner's death. But Crawford's thirst for vengeance jeopardizes his professional judgment and as the violence escalates he finds himself in the middle of a conflict between two rival Asian gangs. Now nothing is quite what it seems and he must be prepared for WAR! System Requirements:Run time: 99 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLERS Rating: R UPC: 031398221807 Manufacturer No: 22180Pitting Hong Kong legend Jet Li against UK tough guy Jason Statham seems like a surefire way to generate on-screen heat, and action fans will get a good deal of just that from the action-heavy War. Unfortunately, they also have to slog through a clichéd-riddled story about world-weary FBI agent Statham, who's gunning for Li, the master assassin that killed his partner years before, and who's currently neck-deep in a turf war between yakuza and triad gangs. Philip G. Atwell's style-over-substance direction doesn't help matters either, though he does have a way with shootouts and other combative set pieces. As for Li and Statham, their scenes together are surprisingly limited; there's also a twist in the film's final third that begs for serious suspension of disbelief. In short, those that found the duo's last movie team-up (2001's The One) lacking won't find much here to supplant that memory. The DVD includes three commentary tracks: one by Atwell, one by screenwriters Lee Anthony Smith and Gregory J. Bradley (it's the liveliest of the lot) and an audio trivia track that delves deep into the film's production, which is also covered in detail by nine separate featurettes. A gag reel and deleted/extended scenes round out the supplemental features. -- Paul Gaita
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