Despite having big name action stars like Jet Li and Jason Statham, War still bombed at the box office. This movie has some cool action scenes, but the plot is a big mess. Action fans will probably enjoy seeing it once, but it doesn’t really warrant multiple viewings. I remember when this movie came out in late August of last year because I expected it to be a pretty big hit. However, it was already out of theaters by the end of September, meaning it only lasted about 4 weeks before getting pushed out of the way for other movies.

In this movie, Statham plays an FBI agent who is hunting an assassin known only as Rogue. In the opening scene, Statham and his partner confront Rogue and think they killed him, though his body was never found after he jumped off a pier into the water. Later on, Statham’s partner is killed and it looks like Rogue is back in action, thanks to his trademark titanium shell casings that he leaves behind. Statham then goes on a manhunt to track down Rogue and get revenge for his partner.

The title of the movie, War, actually deals with the rivalry between the Yakuza and Triad gangs. The Rogue character is actually playing both sides of these gangsters in order to start a gang war between them, and the FBI is there in the middle of it all trying to fight off both sides while also going after Rogue. What this amounts to is a series of gunfights, swordfights, car chases, and even a few ninjas sneaking around. With arms being chopped off and bullet-riddled bodies flying through air, this is an exceptionally bloody and violent movie.

I thought it was cool to see Jet Li play a villain in this movie, since he usually plays some kind of hero type character. He even starred in a movie called Hero! The problem with this movie was that it tried to be more than it should have been. It has twists for the sake of having twists, and some things are just too obvious from the beginning. Combine that with a jumpy exposition of events and a plot that is already not too believable and you get a movie like this. It’s one action sequence after another with a hokey story to barely string it all together.

Looking back on previous American movies with Jet Li, I’ve found that hardly any of them were very successful. Cradle 2 the Grave only cleared $34 million at the box office, while Kiss of the Dragon made $36 million. Romeo Must Die made an impressive $55 million, but it had the distinction of being Li’s first leading role in an American movie, after having played a villain in Lethal Weapon 4. Most of Li’s movies were made on a $25 million budget.

Jason Statham’s career has also been hit and miss. He’s on his third bomb in a row with the most recent The Bank Job after this movie and In the Name of the King failed at the box office. His upcoming Death Race with Paul W.S. Anderson stands a better chance of being successful. I think Statham is one of my favorite action movie stars, but he didn’t have a lot to do in this movie. In fact, he disappears for too much of the third act.

In the end, I enjoyed watching War just for the action, but there wasn’t much to the story. It starts out like another lame ‘you killed my partner’ cop movie, then tries to add a few unnecessary twists to the plot.


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening