The Art of War is a 2000 action film about an operative for the United Nations’ covert dirty-tricks squad, who uses espionage and quasi-ethical tactics to secure peace and cooperation.
In 1996 Tom Cruise hopped on the reboot wagon and along with director Brian De Palma cranked out a reimagined, action-heavy take on a classic television show called Mission: Impossible, spawning a franchise that is still delivering to this day. Naturally, it inspired a slew of copycats, despite being one itself in many ways, fiddling with the iconic James Bond formula. I bring this up only to say that while you watch the 2000 Wesley Snipes film, The Art of War, you can’t help but wonder if in fact someone in the editing depart somehow forget to finish the movie’s title, forgetting to add Mission: Impossible to the the start of it. This is the very definition of mimicry, and while there are a host of flaws and makes the mistake of thinking the M:I succeed merely because of the action, there’s still some fun to be had and for fans of such, is certainly worth a sit-through.
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THE STORY: Starting at a Chinese New Year party welcoming the new millennium and in turn, stronger relations with the west, we meet Neil Shaw (Snipes), a deep undercover agent for the United Nations. He’s part of a team who breaks the rules per se to keep the peace, using any dirty trick they can muster to maintain a kind of balance, using espionage and blackmail to ensure international cooperation. For instance, at the party, Shaw secretly films a powerful North Korean defense minister getting a little something special under the table from one of his many escorts and then broadcasts it to everyone in attendance, threatening to expose his misuse of U.N. aid money if he doesn’t get in line with negotiations with South Korea. So yeah, ethics shmethics.
Either way, Shaw is discovered and a prolonged fight sequences follows, leading to a daring leap off a high tower and a gunshot wound to his his shoulder. Six months later, he’s back on the job when a series of seemingly unconnected events has Shaw’s handler Eleanor Hooks (Anne Archer) believing that something is afoul with the Chinese again, their ambassador Wu’s (James Hong) maybe tied to the infamous Triad, a notorious Chinese criminal organization. With his secret team of operatives, once again Shaw infiltrates an important event and seems to get the upper hand, but things go bad quickly, and what follows is a race to stay alive as his team is one-by-one cut down and he uncovers a massive conspiracy.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR: Admittedly, there are some very serious concerns with The Art of War, the first being the sound. Clearly, the entire cast dubbed their lines again over the film after the movie was complete, which is not an entirely uncommon practice, however, watching the movie, it’s really obvious. It’s strangely disconcerting as it sounds very much like a foreign-dubbed movie even though their lips match every word spoken. It’s weird.
Either way. What I liked. Well, a lot actually. Snipes, especially through the 90s, has some terrific screen presence. You watch any of his action flicks and you can’t help but stay with him, even if they aren’t all that original. He’s a man of few words but is entirely convincing as a weapon of brute force. He might lack the charisma of Cruise, but he makes up for it with sheer bravado. No one gets in his face and just about all of the battles here are effective, even if they go bigger they need to.
I also like the quieter moments as well, which director Christian Duguay sprinkles liberally throughout, allowing Shaw to develop a bit more beyond the punches and kicks. No, we’re not getting all mushy with this guy, but we do get a sense that he’s not just a mindless machine at the whim of his controllers. He’s got some smarts in him and as the fighting requires absolute awareness, this bleeds into other less physical areas, at least giving the film a bit of intrigue. It ain’t Christopher Nolan level of mental gymnastics, but at least there’s something to follow.
A GREAT MOMENT: Avoiding spoilers, at one point Shaw gets himself captured by the Triad, who have plans to frame him for some very bad things. Naturally, he escapes – duh – and makes his way to Jenna Novak (Liliana Komorowska), the last remaining member of his elite team. She has a USB with a very volatile audio file that others are rather desperate to get hold of, and so when he arrives at her safe house, well, it’s not good. Really not good.
I’ll skim around what happens but I really like this entire scene, which gives Shaw a chance to play a little Sherlock Holmesian with the moment, piecing together all sorts of curious clues about what went down. It’s a nice break from the action and is a kind of turning point for Shaw, who it seems, it a lot more clever than he appears. Pay attention. It’s a well-crafted and executed sequence.
THE TALLY: Okay, so no, the movie doesn’t quite capitalize on moments like this, depending far more on expansive action set pieces and knuckle sandwiches to pad its runtime, and yet, that’s not all bad. Heck, it’s actually done well. Where it steers into troubled waters though is with some really hackneyed plot ‘twists’ that anyone can see coming ten miles out. In fact, the movie seems aggressively trying to tell its audience who not to trust right from the start, going just shy of plopping a neon sign on screen pointing to the guy and saying “It’s him!” Trust me, you’ll know right away what I mean. It’s actually kind of disappointing because The Art of War is a well-directed film, and if given a chance to grow a bit, could have been much smarter. I never wanted to stop watching, pulled in enough to stay with it, smirking here and there at some choices, but always happy to see Snipes do what he did best. It’s what to watch.