Two hours' worth of painful stupidity, overt racism, and mind-battering noise and movement.
The Art of War (2000)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:80
Fresh:13
Rotten:67
Average Rating:3.9/10
Consensus: The Art of War is basically a messy recycling of well-worn action movie cliches.
Runtime: 1 hr 57 mins
Genre: Action/Adventure
Synopsis:
A group of murdered Chinese refugees is found in a container in the New York harbor, setting off a bizarre and mysterious chain of events leading to the murder of the Chinese U.N. Ambassador. When...
A group of murdered Chinese refugees is found in a container in the New York harbor, setting off a bizarre and mysterious chain of events leading to the murder of the Chinese U.N. Ambassador. When Shaw is accused of the crime, he must go underground -- in effect, vanish from his own life, to solve the mystery and clear his name. He can trust no one except a beautiful U.N. translator (Marie Matiko) who may hold the key to a global conspiracy of cataclysmic proportions.
Wesley Snipes stars in The Art of War, an international thriller set against the high-stakes corridors of the United Nations. The film also stars Anne Archer (Clear And Present Danger, Short Cuts) as Shaw’s supervisor, Hooks, an ambitious FBI agent; Maury Chaykin (Entrapment) as Capella; Marie Matiko (The Corruptor) as Julia Fang, the U.N. translator who is Shaw’s only ally; and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as Chan, the ruthless businessman Shaw suspects of being the mastermind behind the plot; with Michael Biehn (Aliens, the upcoming Cherry Falls) as Shaw’s American agent partner, Bly; and Donald Sutherland (Instinct, A Time To Kill) as U.N. Secretary General Thomas. Also featured in the cast are James Hong (Red Corner), as Ambassador Wu, and Liliana Komorowska (The Assignment) as Novak.
Directed by Christian Duguay (TV’s Joan of Arc, The Assignment) from a screenplay by Wayne Beach and Simon Davis Barry and story by Wayne Beach, the film is produced by Nicolas Clermont (This Is My Father, Monument Avenue) for Franchise Pictures. Elie Samaha, Dan Halsted and Wesley Snipes are the executive producers. Morgan Creek Productions, Inc. and Franchise Pictures and Amen Ra Films present a Filmline International Production of a film by Christian Duguay, Wesley Snipes stars in The Art of War. The film is distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures.
Starring: Wesley Snipes, Anne Archer, Maury Chaykin, Marie Matiko
Starring: Wesley Snipes, Anne Archer, Maury Chaykin, Marie Matiko, Michael Biehn, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Donald Sutherland
Director: Christian Duguay
Director: Christian Duguay
Screenwriter: Wayne Beach, Kevin Bernhardt, Simon Davis Barry
Reviews for The Art of War
Between the dark and stormy night settings and the shifty camera work that's meant to build tension -- but doesn't -- The Art of War is often confusing to look at.
Quickly falls into B-picture visual cliche, accompanied by leaden dialogue, as it simplifies its ambitious story for the sake of too many shootouts and overblown chases.
Little more than a ridiculous action film with a plot as believable as the Warren Report, ugly violence that would have made Peckinpah cringe, and terrible acting by B-list actors.
Duguay's grotesque excess of visual and aural noise squelches thought.
While Snipes remains convincing throughout the entire film, the film itself doesn't.
The audio gambits are so commanding that at times, you forget that they're just about the only thing gripping your attention.
I'm happy to report that while it's deeply flawed, it's not by any means a bad film.
It's extremely difficult to decide which element of The Art of War ... is its most annoying. There are just so many to choose from.
The movie is competently made, but it deals with characters and situations so well-worn, there is no conceivable way to breathe any fresh life into them.
The Art of War becomes a convoluted yarn of international conspiracies thinner than the paper the script is printed on.
A formulaic spy thriller with an intricate puzzle-box story and action that speeds along nicely once it gets going.
Sun Tzu said, 'Be subtle! Be subtle! And use your spies for every kind of business!' And 'ponder and deliberate before you make a move.' Alas, Sun Tzu didn't have script approval on this mess.
Latest News for The Art of War
August 13, 2008:
What The Hell Happened To Wesley Snipes?
In the first part of a new Rotten Tomatoes feature, we examine the career ups and downs of our favorite fallen celebrities -- as charted by the Tomatometer, of course, and... More...
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