The Art of War
Reviewed by David Kashimba

 The Art of War, staring Wesley Snipes, is a film with very little art and no war. But don’t let that stop you from seeing it. Like most of Snipes’ films, it’s a good action flick with lots of great special effects that make Snipes look like the super hero we all want him to be. When he jumps over two stories onto a parked car on a rainy night and keeps on running after the bad guy, we know that if we tried that we’d break our neck, but down deep inside, we wish that we could. By letting Snipes do it for us, with a little help from Hollywood magic, we only spend the price of a movie ticket instead of thousands of dollars in hospital fees.

In other words this is a pretty good escape film where we can become a super spy for two hours. Snipes portrays Neil Shaw, one member of an elite team of covert government agents specializing in projects pertaining to the United Nations. Of course, if caught, the U.S. government disavows any knowledge of him.

The title The Art of War was deliberately stolen from Sun Tsu, an ancient Asian general who wrote a book, by the same title, which is still used today in courses at the Navy and Army War Collages. According to director Christian Duguay, “The whole film is based on the theme of manipulation and the idea that things are not what they appear (those are the central themes of The Art of War).” But I’m afraid I just don’t see it. To me it’s just another action film and the reference to Sun Tsu is a feeble attempt to add substance to another formula film. Why not simply admit that it’s a formula action film made to entertain people and make money?

However, except for one hokey fight scene near the end, it’s a good enough action/escape movie and Snipes fans will enjoy it.

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