War (2007)

Rated: R (Properly)

Grade: BDDB=C
Budget: $25 million
Box Office: $22 million US, $18 million int’l, $10 million DVD
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Directed by: Philip G. Atwell, who made a Shield episode and, not surprisingly, music video’s for 50 Cent, NWA, Xzibit, and Eminem.
Starring: Jason Statham, Jet Li, John Lone, Devon Aoki, Luiz Guzman, Saul Rubinek, Sung Kang, Ryo Ishibashi, and Nadine Velazquez.

Comments:

Look. It’s a Japanese underworld, cops and Yakuza, shoot-‘em up action movie starring today’s two premiere martial arts stars made by a rap video director. So what do you think it’ll be like? A hip, violent, venceance-is-mine-saith-the-lead-character 90 minute music video with lots of blood and occasional sexuality. A Charlie Chan mystery it most certainly is not. I will say this. I’ve been very disappointed with Jason Statham films, but the closest one to being decent was The One, which of course also starred Jet Li, whose American movies I generally liked best when they also starred Danny Glover and Mel Gibson. I can’t really recommend it, but I will say that it is one of the better of the plague of bad action movies I’ve seen recently. At least there is a moderately intriguing plot that might generate discussions about justice and police powers.