Review: The Art of War (* 1/2)
Steve Rhodes
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2000 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): * 1/2
In Christian Duguay's THE ART OF WAR, it's death by noise. No, not the
characters' deaths, yours. With its explosive sound effects and Normand
Corbeil's bombastic score, the film is an Excedrin headache for viewers.
Wesley Snipes (BLADE) works in a covert UN operation so tough that it
would make the CIA envious. (Bet you didn't even know that the UN had a
secret operation.) A high-ranking Chinese diplomat is assassinated on
the eve of a big trade agreement, so Snipes, as agent Shaw, goes into
action. The generic plot isn't important as it just provides the
pretext for lots of fighting and gore. The high-kicking Snipes looks
like a black Jet Li auditioning to be the next James Bond. The picture
itself, with its glitzy skyscraper locales, wants badly to be the next
ENTRAPMENT, which it isn't.
With its awful dialog, the movie works best when it shuts up. Eleanor
Hooks (Anne Archer), aide to U.N. Secretary General Douglas Thomas
(Donald Sutherland), says, for example, "My instinct tells me that
something is lurking under the surface."
What's lurking isn't a lot of brains. When Shaw hears from his partner,
Bly (Michael Biehn), over their communication system that Bly has been
shot, Shaw doesn't bother asking his location. Instead, Shaw goes
around screaming and runs right into danger himself.
Another time, as Agent Cappella (Maury Chaykin) is lying on the ground,
the bad guys come in to finish him off. These dumb villains have never
heard of bulletproof vests, so they make sure that Cappella's dead by
shooting him in the chest rather than the head. Getting up alive
afterwards, the director has Cappella take off his shirt to show us the
vest. He doesn't think we would be smart enough to figure that out on
our own.
If all it takes to earn your entertainment dollars are audio assaults on
your ears and bloody images for your eyes, THE ART OF WAR may be just
your ticket. Those who demand a bit more from a movie will be bitterly
disappointed.
THE ART OF WAR runs 1:57. It is rated R for strong violence, some
sexuality, language and brief drug content and would be acceptable for
older teenagers.
The film opens nationwide in the United States today, Friday, August 25.
In the Silicon Valley it is showing at the AMC and the Century theaters.
Email: Steve....@InternetReviews.com
Web: http://www.InternetReviews.com
Eric Lambert
Steve Rhodes <Steve....@InternetReviews.com> wrote:
<snip>
Nice review. It would've been more complete had you bothered
to include Marie Matiko somewhere in the vicinity of your review.
Thanks.
Eric
tricks...@my-deja.com
"Steve Rhodes" <Steve....@InternetReviews.com> wrote:
>it's death by noise. No, not the characters' deaths, yours.
<snip>
So you're saying SunTzu has nothing with this movie?
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Norman Wilner
news:8oe9h0$nfk$1...@nnrp1.deja.com...
> In article <2CCp5.13307$ED.1...@news.wenet.net>,
> "Steve Rhodes" <Steve....@InternetReviews.com> wrote:
>
>> it's death by noise. No, not the characters' deaths,
>> yours.
> <snip>
>
>
> So you're saying SunTzu has nothing with this movie?
What, as a consultant?
The movie refers to Sun Tzu's theories exactly once, and it's lip service
to justify the title.
Norm Wilner
Starweek Magazine
http://www.chapters.ca/wilner/
Trotsky
Norman Wilner wrote:
>
> <tricks...@my-deja.com> wrote in message
> news:8oe9h0$nfk$1...@nnrp1.deja.com...
> > In article <2CCp5.13307$ED.1...@news.wenet.net>,
> > "Steve Rhodes" <Steve....@InternetReviews.com> wrote:
> >
> >> it's death by noise. No, not the characters' deaths,
> >> yours.
> > <snip>
> >
> >
> > So you're saying SunTzu has nothing with this movie?
>
> What, as a consultant?
>
> The movie refers to Sun Tzu's theories exactly once, and it's lip service
> to justify the title.
Actually, the phrase "the art of war" was stated both by Anne Archer's
character and Michael Biehn's character.
surdamon
Norman Wilner wrote:
>
> <tricks...@my-deja.com> wrote in message
> news:8oe9h0$nfk$1...@nnrp1.deja.com...
> > In article <2CCp5.13307$ED.1...@news.wenet.net>,
> > "Steve Rhodes" <Steve....@InternetReviews.com> wrote:
> >
> >> it's death by noise. No, not the characters' deaths,
> >> yours.
> > <snip>
> >
> >
> > So you're saying SunTzu has nothing with this movie?
>
> What, as a consultant?
>
> The movie refers to Sun Tzu's theories exactly once, and it's lip service
> to justify the title.
>
at least twice, perhaps three times.
and, to be fair, the motivations behind the plot are quite complex,
and derive from the art of war.
what happnes is that they take this very complex, interesting notion,
and shoehorn it into one of the most cliched plots this year,
thus ruining what could have potentially been a good movie.
as it is, for an action movie, it's not bad.
there's just not much to distinguish it.
--
"We have a budget surplus but a deficit in values"-
George W. Bush, ignoring the lowest crime rates and the greatest
focus on human rights in a generation, instead choosing
to attack his opponent.
Norman Wilner
> Norman Wilner wrote:
>> <tricks...@my-deja.com> wrote in message
>> news:8oe9h0$nfk$1...@nnrp1.deja.com...
>>> In article <2CCp5.13307$ED.1...@news.wenet.net>,
>>> "Steve Rhodes" <Steve....@InternetReviews.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> it's death by noise. No, not the characters' deaths,
>>>> yours.
>>> <snip>
>>>
>>>
>>> So you're saying SunTzu has nothing with this movie?
>>
>> What, as a consultant?
>>
>> The movie refers to Sun Tzu's theories exactly once, and
>> it's lip service to justify the title.
>
> character and Michael Biehn's character.
Using the title of a book as a recurring phrase and actually discussing the
contents of that book are two different things. The movie refers to Sun
Tzu's theories exactly once.
surdamon
i'm 85% positive biehn's character mentioned another
one of his theories.
bud...@my-deja.com
I didn't even have to see a trailer. I could
tell this one was straight from the Bruckheimer
School of Film Histronics in one 30-second ad.
Budy2k
Norman Wilner
news:39ACB546...@mdo.net...
> one of his theories.
I don't remember that, but it's possible I couldn't make it out on the
soundtrack -- a lot of dialogue was muffled by the rainstorm effects.
Trotsky
Norman Wilner wrote:
>
> "surdamon" <dcru...@mdo.net> wrote in message
> news:39ACB546...@mdo.net...
> > Norman Wilner wrote:
> > i'm 85% positive biehn's character mentioned another
> > one of his theories.
>
> I don't remember that, but it's possible I couldn't make it out on the
> soundtrack -- a lot of dialogue was muffled by the rainstorm effects.
>
"Rainstorm effects"? Inside the UN building? That's a little silly.
Norman Wilner
> Norman Wilner wrote:
>> "surdamon" <dcru...@mdo.net> wrote in message
>> news:39ACB546...@mdo.net...
>>> Norman Wilner wrote:
>>> one of his theories.
>>
>> I don't remember that, but it's possible I couldn't make
>> it out on the soundtrack -- a lot of dialogue was muffled
>> by the rainstorm effects.
>
> "Rainstorm effects"? Inside the UN building? That's a little
> silly.
I'll rephrase, then -- it's raining _outside_ during that scene, and
there's a great deal of rear-surround activity of rain running down the
windows, and so on. At the screening I attended, that noise was loud enough
to muffle the dialogue.
Incidentally, I think I remember the dialogue in question after all: If
it's the bit where Biehn is holding Snipes' translator friend hostage, and
taunting him about causing a rift in Asian-Japanese relations (by killing
the translator if Snipes doesn't come out of hiding), then that's got
nothing to do with Sun Tzu's book; it's just a badly-written threat.
Trotsky
Norman Wilner wrote:
>
> "Trotsky" <gsi...@mc.net> wrote in message news:39AD3E7B...@mc.net...
> > Norman Wilner wrote:
> >> "surdamon" <dcru...@mdo.net> wrote in message
> >>>
> >>> i'm 85% positive biehn's character mentioned another
> >>> one of his theories.
> >>
> >> I don't remember that, but it's possible I couldn't make
> >> it out on the soundtrack -- a lot of dialogue was muffled
> >> by the rainstorm effects.
> >
> > "Rainstorm effects"? Inside the UN building? That's a little
> > silly.
>
> I'll rephrase, then -- it's raining _outside_ during that scene, and
> there's a great deal of rear-surround activity of rain running down the
> windows, and so on. At the screening I attended, that noise was loud enough
> to muffle the dialogue.
>
> Incidentally, I think I remember the dialogue in question after all: If
> it's the bit where Biehn is holding Snipes' translator friend hostage, and
> taunting him about causing a rift in Asian-Japanese relations (by killing
> the translator if Snipes doesn't come out of hiding), then that's got
> nothing to do with Sun Tzu's book; it's just a badly-written threat.
Ooh--now you have me on a technicality--I don't remember Biehn's taunt
word for word. I made a mental note that he did repeat the phrase "the
art of war", which I felt was overkill--I'm reasonably sure he was
ranting about Sun Tzu's writings, but wouldn't swear to it.
Norman Wilner
>>> Norman Wilner wrote:
>>>> "surdamon" <dcru...@mdo.net> wrote in message
>>>>>
>>>>> i'm 85% positive biehn's character mentioned another
>>>>> one of his theories.
>>>>
>>>> I don't remember that, but it's possible I couldn't make
>>>> it out on the soundtrack -- a lot of dialogue was muffled
>>>> by the rainstorm effects.
>>>
>>> "Rainstorm effects"? Inside the UN building? That's
>>> a little silly.
>>
>> I'll rephrase, then -- it's raining _outside_ during that scene,
>> and there's a great deal of rear-surround activity of rain running
>> down the windows, and so on. At the screening I attended,
>> that noise was loud enough to muffle the dialogue.
> >
>> Incidentally, I think I remember the dialogue in question after
>> all: If it's the bit where Biehn is holding Snipes' translator friend
>> hostage, and taunting him about causing a rift in Asian-Japanese
>> relations (by killing the translator if Snipes doesn't come out of
>> hiding), then that's got nothing to do with Sun Tzu's book; it's
>> just a badly-written threat.
>
> Ooh--now you have me on a technicality--I don't remember
> Biehn's taunt word for word. I made a mental note that he
> overkill--I'm reasonably sure he was ranting about Sun Tzu's
> writings, but wouldn't swear to it.
Well, if it was the line I described, it wasn't really a reference to the
book. But as I said, there was a lot of background noise, and if there was
a genuine reference elsewhere in the scene, I might have missed it.
We do agree that "The Art of War" was probably chosen because it was a cool
title, not because anyone had actually read the book, though, right?
surdamon
Norman Wilner wrote:
>
> "Trotsky" <gsi...@mc.net> wrote in message news:39AD54CF...@mc.net...
> > Norman Wilner wrote:
> >> "Trotsky" <gsi...@mc.net> wrote in message
i don't.
i think someone read the book, and then butchered a movie
they tried to base on it.
Norman Wilner
> Norman Wilner wrote:
>
>> We do agree that "The Art of War" was probably chosen
>> because it was a cool title, not because anyone had actually
>> read the book, though, right?
>
> i don't.
> i think someone read the book, and then butchered
> a movie they tried to base on it.
My guess would be the people who made the movie knew a person who'd read a
review of the book.