Movie Review: War

War (2007) 

Directed by Cory Yuen 

Written by Lee Anthony Smith, Gregory J. Bradley

Starring Jason Statham, Jet Li, Devon Aoki, Luis Guzman, Saul Rubinek

Release Date August 24th, 2007

Published August 24th, 2007

What a cool idea! Put Jet Li and Jason Statham together in a movie and have them beat the holy hell out of each other. It's the urban action movie equivalent of Freddy Vs Jason, if it's done right. You can't just put them in the same movie and then not deliver on the badass, hand to hand beatdown. Sadly, War does not deliver on this promise. This mindless shoot'em up places Li and Statham on opposite ends of a gang war and then, when it finally comes down to the two of them, as you know it should, War becomes a minor police action.

Jason Statham stars in War as Crawford a San Francisco FBI agent specializing in Asian crime gangs, the Yakuza and the Triads. When his partner and his family is murdered by the top Triad assassin, known only as Rogue (Jet Li), Crawford abandons his own loving wife and small child and goes on a three year, non-stop mission to find and kill Rogue.

After years of Rogue reshaping his face and globetrotting all over the world, he finally returns to San Francisco in unusual fashion. Having been the top assassin for the Triads, he returns to San Francisco and begins killing top Triad lieutenants. Soon he is helping the Yakuza obtain priceless art from the Triads only to then get the Triad guys killed. Essentially, Rogue has gone Rogue and is starting a war to kill off both gangs.

Crawford recognizes what Rogue is up too but cannot get past the death of his partner. Whether Rogue is doing him and the world a favor by eliminating two of the world's top crime organizations, Crawford still intends to kill Rogue. Thus the set up for what should be an epic showdown. Bullets fly, hundreds of extras are gunned down, all leading to the climactic head to head. And then.... And then...

Nothing. Well, not quite nothing. Jet Li and Jason Statham do get to go head to head but the fight, as choreographed and directed by Cory Yuen, it's beyond anti-climactic. Held at the mercy of a rather ludicrous plot twist, the fight is almost reserved, even genteel by Li and Statham standards. It ends at the mercy of the plot twist and the letdown drags down the whole film.

Though Jason Statham and Jet Li have worked together before in 2001's The One. However, they weren't really on the same star plain at that time. Statham was still a rising star and that interesting sci fi action flick ended not with Li vs Statham but Jet vs Jet Li. War finds Jet Li and Jason Statham as equals, Statham having rode The Transporter flicks to action star status, thus anticipation for their face off was high.

The whole movie lives and dies on Statham against Li and when director Cory Yuen blows that, he blows the whole picture. The fight is listless, uninspired and, as edited, almost incomprehensible. Then, of course, it ends too quickly at the mercy of one of the dumber plot twists we've seen in a while. If War were a better movie, the plot twist would have ruined it, as it is the plot twist only makes a bad situation worse.

War is a disappointment on even the modest scale of anticipation that greeted it. Action fans who wanted a knock down, drag out, hand to hand face off between Jet Li and Jason Statham will find little but disappointment in War. Li, as he has confessed in interviews, has clearly lost a step which may have contributed to the lackluster fight, but that does not excuse the failure of this potentially explosive face off.

If Jet Li couldn't go, he shouldn't have made the movie. Marketers should have especially not sold the film as a War between Jet Li and Jason Statham. What a jip.

Movie Review: The Transporter

The Transporter (2002) 

Directed by Cory Yuen 

Written by Luc Besson, Robert Mark Kamen

Starring Jason Statham, Shu Qui, Ric Young 

Release Date October 11th, 2002 

Published October 10th, 2002 

It is rumored that Die Another Day will be the last Bond film for Pierce Brosnan. Many names have come up as possible replacements. Superstars like Mel Gibson and Matt Damon, lesser knowns such as Clive Owen and Colin Farrell, and some actors are even doing films that seem calculated to make them a candidate for this most coveted role. Such seems the case for Jason Statham in The Transporter. Whether this blithe, quick-paced action picture is meant as a Bond audition is just speculation, but it does raise some eyebrows.

Statham plays Frank, known to his employers only as the transporter, a professional deliverer of packages with extreme circumstances. In the opening scene, we see Frank performing his services for a group of bank robbers. When the robbers attempt to change the deal Frank explains the rules and refuses to move until the deal is met as originally negotiated. The opening scene is a perfect introduction to Frank as a straight-ahead businessman, coldly professional and precise. On Frank’s next job, he transports another package but on his way to the drop-off, Frank breaks one of his rules. He opens the package, which happens to be an Asian girl named Lai (Qiu Shu).

Though troubled by his delivery he follows through, but his employers are upset because he opened the package and they try to kill him. From there, it’s obvious where the film is going. How the film gets where it’s going is more important than where.

Director Corey Yuen sharply films his action scenes, giving Statham every opportunity look cool and kickass. My favorite scene is a fight in a bus depot involving Frank, a group of highly dispensable henchman and a couple barrels of motor oil. Yuen even plays up the James Bond style action with scene that obviously crib from the 007 legend.

The Transporter has it’s share of faults. The score is a horrible techno mélange, the dialogue is typically dumbheaded and plodding and the supporting cast, particularly the bad guys, are poorly drawn and faceless. As I searched IMDB for the name of the main bad guy, I couldn’t even remember the name of the character and thus I don’t know the actor’s name.

So is The Transporter a good screen test for Statham as Bond? Well it couldn’t hurt. No one candidate has emerged so taking a part in a film with many Bond elements is a good introduction to show producers. Though some may say Statham isn’t good looking enough (balding and scruffy), marketers would say he’s “ruggedly handsome.” If anything, The Transporter should be enough to get him on the list.