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 "Artsy
Fartsy" by Scott Mantz
"The Art of War"
Wesley Snipes, Marie Matiko
Directed by Christian Duguay
What goes around
most definitely comes around--especially in Hollywood. Just look
at the summer 2000. Here's a season that started with "M:I-2," an
action movie featuring a charismatic secret agent using hi-tech
gadgets and martial arts to catch the bad guy, and ended with "The
Art of War," an action movie featuring a charismatic secret agent
using hi-tech gadgets and martial arts to catch the bad guy. For
a film that's already either incredibly predictable or immensely
complicated, "The Art of War" is so derivative of the aforementioned
"M:I-2" that it may as well have been titled "M:I-2 1/2." Then again,
what did you expect from the producer who brought you "Battlefield
Earth?"
It's New Year's
Eve 1999, and the Chinese government is one step closer to signing
a free trade agreement with the United Nations. When the Chinese
Ambassador is assassinated on live television, undercover agent
Neil Shaw (Wesley Snipes) is framed for the crime. Now a fugitive,
Shaw's only connection to finding out the truth lies with Julia
Fang (Marie Matiko), a feisty U.N. translator who witnessed the
murder. During his investigation, he uncovers a scam involving slave
labor camps and sweat shops that can be traced right back to his
former employers at the United Nations.
Considering
Wesley Snipes' executive producer credit and Franchise Pictures
head honcho Elie Samaha's reputation for green-lighting the vanity
projects of certain celebrities (are you listening Mr. Travolta?),
there's no doubt as to how this film got made. Samaha is already
walking the fine line between filmmakers like Jerry Bruckheimer
and Roger Corman, but if he doesn't realize that certain "labor
of love" projects keep getting turned down by other producers for
a reason, then it doesn't take a fortune cookie to see that he's
liable to spend the rest of his career in B-movie hell.
The problem
with "The Art of War" is that it's a B-movie that isn't even good
at being a B-movie. B-movies are supposed to be the cinematic equivalent
of a guilty pleasure, but this film is way too convoluted to be
a pleasure. The story doesn't allow for any emotional connection
to the characters, the overall plot is confusing, and even the action
scenes are boring.
In an attempt
to distract the audience from these problems, director Christian
Duguay tries to fill up the "The Art of War" with action scenes
that are totally derivative of other movies. There's no doubt that
the fight scenes here were inspired (or ripped off) by John Woo's
poetic and choreographed style from "Face/Off" and "M:I-2." All
that's missing here are a few flying doves, and Woo could have sued
Duguay for copyright infringement.
Wesley Snipes,
who found his calling as the vampire-slicing "Blade," seems to be
more content with making a movie that makes him look good rather
than making a movie that actually is good. Naturally, he turns out
to be an exceptional action hero, but basically, it's a been-there,
done-that performance. Anne Archer tries to break free from her
string of "understanding wife" supporting roles, and considering
the lame performance she puts in here as a corrupt government official,
maybe she should go back to her "husband."
"The Art of
War" is nothing more than the type of hastily assembled hodge-podge
of uninspired action scenes that give Hollywood movies a bad name.
As we wind up these truly dog days (or dog daze) of summer, your
best bet would be to soak up those last rays of sunshine while you
can, rather than waste your time and money on this unappetizing
piece of chop-suey.
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