Movie Review: War - Starring Jet Li & Jason Statham

August 24, 2007 · Filed Under Movie Reviews · 10 Comments 

Movie: War (R)
Released: August 24th, 2007
Runtime: 1 hr. 39 min.
Ticket Price: $5.00 Early Matinee
Refreshments: Hot Dog, Milk Duds & Starburst
Starring: Jet Li & Jason Statham
Director: Philip Atwell

Rating: Check it Out When it Hits the Likes of HBO or Showtime

Synopsis: An assassin has apparently killed an FBI agent’s partner and family. The FBI agent becomes consumed with exacting revenge. When the assassin returns, a war between two Asian mobsters is sparked. As the battle ensues, the ultimate confrontation between the agent and the man he has sought ends up revealing the truth of what took place.

Review: You don’t go to a movie like War for the acting, you go for the action and hope there is a modicum of a story to hold it all together. Well, War has what could have been an interesting story to back up the action, but it falters in the way it’s put together.

It was like they filmed a bunch of sequences and then tried to figure out how to put them together to make a movie. There are no transitions from one scene to the next. At one point Agent Crawford, played by Jason Statham (Crank, The Transporter), drives up in his car to a crime scene. They talk about what may have happened there and then in the next scene a big SUV pulls up at another location and he gets out. You’re like, what? How did they get there? Is it the next day already? This happens way too many times.

Plus, the quick cut action sequence has seen its day. How about just showing us the fight sequence already, or are you trying to cover something up with all the hyper-editing. Like that the fight isn’t all that exciting itself and we have seen it all before. Although, there are a couple of sword play scenes that are pretty good involving Jet Li (Unleashed, The One).

Another problem, as many movies in this genre have, is that all the Asian gang members look like they stepped right out of central casting. They all look the part, as we’ve come to expect them, but they are just a bunch of caricatures. Just taking up space until it is there turn to be taken out.

Overall, you should wait on this one until it hits the premium cable movie outlets, as you won’t be missing anything worth seeing on the big screen. This movie doesn’t even live up to the likes of the two Transporter flicks of Statham’s, or even the crappiness that was Cradle 2 the Grave with Li.

Have you seen War? What did you think?

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