Cast: Wesley Snipes, Marie Matiko, Anne Archer, Michael Biehn, Maury Chaykin, Donald Sutherland, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa
Director: Christian Duguay
Producers: Nicolas Clermont, Oliver Stone
Screenplay: Wayne Beach and Simon Davis Barry
Cinematography: Pierre Gill
Music: Normand Corbeil
U.S. Distributor: Warner Brothers
The Art of War, a somewhat pretentiously slick and stylish thriller from director Christian Duguay (Screamers), is as sporadically entertaining as it is preposterous. Grafting current events onto that old stand-by plot device, the accused innocent man, and adding lots of gratuitously arty cinematography, Duguay has come up with a film that manages to be diverting - provided, of course, you don't think too deeply about the plot. When the film works, it's because of the tight pacing and expertly choreographed action scenes. The "surprise" twists in the plot are nothing of the sort - anyone who doesn't expect the return from the dead of one character and the betrayal by another hasn't seen many of these movies.
The plot details aren't terribly important, since they're just variations on the usual political thriller themes. Wesley Snipes plays Neil Shaw, a special agent working covert operations for the U.N. When the Chinese Ambassador is assassinated, Shaw gets caught in the middle and ends up as the fall guy. After his boss, Eleanor Hooks (Anne Archer), appears to hang him out to dry, he realizes he has to clear his own name. With the help of a pretty Chinese translator, Julia Fang (Marie Matiko), and a ineffectual FBI agent, Frank Cappella (Maury Chaykin), Shaw blasts his way through the murky alliances between a Chinese businessman, U.S. government agencies, and the Triad.
One thing to appreciate about The Art of War (the title of which, by the way, is taken from the book by Sun Tsu, whose philosophies are occasionally referenced) is its fast pace. When a movie moves this quickly, it doesn't allow much time to reflect on how derivative and often silly the storyline is. The action sequences, of which there are quite a few, are executed with style and flair (sometimes too much style - on more than one occasion, Duguay seems to be imitating John Woo, and his use of black-and-white inserts is more distracting than effective). There's nothing groundbreaking to be found here, but The Art of War does the job of mixing the expected adrenaline-and-testosterone cocktail.
Another thing to like about The Art of War is its intentionally ambiguous ending. The final scene, which is filmed in soft light, can be interpreted in any number of ways, taking into account what the viewer believes happens immediately beforehand. Depending on an individual's general outlook upon life, the epilogue can be seen as nihilistic or happy. It's all in the interpretation.
There's certainly nothing wrong with the performances, although one could argue that Wesley Snipes' talents are wasted in a movie that values physical stamina over acting ability. Nevertheless, he has a strong screen presence, and he handles the action scenes with adroitness. Marie Matiko does a good job as Snipes' low-key romantic interest. The two don't share so much as a kiss, but there's a playful kind of chemistry between them. In supporting roles, Anne Archer has the cold bitch part down cold; Donald Sutherland, on hand to pick up a paycheck, appears in a few scenes as the U.N. Secretary General; Michael Biehn makes a rare appearance in a non-James Cameron film; and Maury Chaykin, best known for essaying unorthodox roles, manages to play a relatively normal character.
It's hard to fault The Art of War overmuch for its failings, since it delivers what audiences will expect from it. While there have been genre films of this sort to transcend their simple origins (Enemy of the State comes to mind), The Art of War is content to remain safely within the constraints of the formula, as intellectually unfulfilling as that approach might be. As such, it offers a relatively mindless sort of entertainment, but, considering how noxious most of the current multiplex fare is, that could be considered a compliment. At any rate, The Art of War manages to entertain without being enriching, and, at least in some circles, that's the definition of what a summer film is supposed to accomplish.
© 2000 James Berardinelli