2008 Woodie Awards
War
War-What is it good for? Absolutely nothing.
Audrick Bituin
Issue date: 9/12/07 Section: Entertainment
- Page 1 of 1
Director: Philip Atwell
Starring: Jet Li and Jason Statham
Running Time: 103 minutes
The film "War" is an exercise in futility. It is loud, flashy, and all style; containing no substance. With the talent involved in this film, you would think it would have turned out better.
Upon first seeing the trailer for "War," I was expecting great action and looking forward to the inevitable fight between Jet Li and Jason Statham. I'm a big fan of loud popcorn flicks where you can shut your brain off and enjoy the film. This movie was not one of them.
The film stars Statham as Jack Crawford, an F.B.I. agent tracking Rogue, played by Jet Li. Crawford's entire goal in the film is to get revenge against Rogue, who killed his partner and friend in the beginning of the film. It's not an original idea by any means, but it gets the point across.
The problem with this movie is that it thinks it's smarter than it really is. There is a twist involved in this movie, that I will not reveal. The twist completely undermines the main characters and it that comes out so forced, it makes the movie annoying to watch or put-up with. There is nothing wrong with having a twist in a movie, yet to have the twist essentially come from nowhere, having no reasonable set-up, makes it amateurish.
The action in this movie was good, but nothing spectacular. If anything, the standards of martial arts in films have been raised to such ridiculous extremes that it's harder to wow the audience with something original.
My problem with the fight scenes was the amount of editing during the fight. It causes the viewer to lose sight of what's happening. You can't fully enjoy the fight scenes because the camera cuts to a different angle causing the viewer to be confused as to what is happening.
The director of the film, Philip Atwell, is a music video director and it shows. While this is not an indictment against music video directors, the way in which he directed the movie is very evident of music videos. The scenes in the club are especially reminiscent of music videos with quick cuts and flashing lights all over the place.
A major let down of the film was the climatic battle between Jet Li's character and Statham's character, while you would expect an epic fight, the film instead delivers a "barely there" fight that is so underwhelming that you wonder what the fuss is all about.
War is a disappointing film that will be another footnote in the annals of forgettable action films.
Two Stars out of Four
Starring: Jet Li and Jason Statham
Running Time: 103 minutes
The film "War" is an exercise in futility. It is loud, flashy, and all style; containing no substance. With the talent involved in this film, you would think it would have turned out better.
Upon first seeing the trailer for "War," I was expecting great action and looking forward to the inevitable fight between Jet Li and Jason Statham. I'm a big fan of loud popcorn flicks where you can shut your brain off and enjoy the film. This movie was not one of them.
The film stars Statham as Jack Crawford, an F.B.I. agent tracking Rogue, played by Jet Li. Crawford's entire goal in the film is to get revenge against Rogue, who killed his partner and friend in the beginning of the film. It's not an original idea by any means, but it gets the point across.
The problem with this movie is that it thinks it's smarter than it really is. There is a twist involved in this movie, that I will not reveal. The twist completely undermines the main characters and it that comes out so forced, it makes the movie annoying to watch or put-up with. There is nothing wrong with having a twist in a movie, yet to have the twist essentially come from nowhere, having no reasonable set-up, makes it amateurish.
The action in this movie was good, but nothing spectacular. If anything, the standards of martial arts in films have been raised to such ridiculous extremes that it's harder to wow the audience with something original.
My problem with the fight scenes was the amount of editing during the fight. It causes the viewer to lose sight of what's happening. You can't fully enjoy the fight scenes because the camera cuts to a different angle causing the viewer to be confused as to what is happening.
The director of the film, Philip Atwell, is a music video director and it shows. While this is not an indictment against music video directors, the way in which he directed the movie is very evident of music videos. The scenes in the club are especially reminiscent of music videos with quick cuts and flashing lights all over the place.
A major let down of the film was the climatic battle between Jet Li's character and Statham's character, while you would expect an epic fight, the film instead delivers a "barely there" fight that is so underwhelming that you wonder what the fuss is all about.
War is a disappointing film that will be another footnote in the annals of forgettable action films.
Two Stars out of Four
Be the first to comment on this story