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New York Times; New York, N.Y.; Aug 25, 2000
Stephen Holden
Edition: Late Edition (East Coast)
Column Name: Film Review
Start Page: E.25
ISSN: 03624331
Abstract:
Most of all, this clunky, frenetic action-thriller, directed by Christian Duguay
from a screenplay by Wayne Beach and Simon Davis Barry, is a wretchedly acted
slice of high-decibel nonsense in which Mr. [Wesley Snipes] portrays Shaw, a
secret agent of a United Nations covert action unit.
Through it all, Mr. Snipes remains characteristically affectless. No emotion, not even rage, ruffles his masklike detachment. Mr. [Donald Sutherland], looking cadaverous and bleary- eyed, and Ms. [Anne Archer], grimly stony-faced, hit new career lows with their wooden line readings of the screenplay's unreadable dialogue. Normand Corbeil's relentlessly grating music deserves special mention; it is like having a jackhammer just outside your window. Chinese water torture would be preferable.
WITH: Wesley Snipes (Shaw), Anne Archer ([Eleanor Hooks]), Maury Chaykin (Cappella), Marie Matiko (Julia), Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (Chan), Michael Biehn (Bly) and Donald Sutherland ([Douglas Thomas]).
Full Text:
Copyright New York Times Company Aug 25, 2000
Ludicrous, impenetrable and headache-inducing: the newest Wesley Snipes film, ''The Art of War,'' is all that and more. In portraying its Chinese villains as devious triple- crossing schemers who have devised levels of treachery that Americans have only just begun to understand and adapt for their own purposes, it is also racist. Oh, those enigmatic Asians! They're so far ahead of us in fiendishness and, of course, inscrutability.
But most of all, this clunky, frenetic action-thriller, directed by Christian Duguay from a screenplay by Wayne Beach and Simon Davis Barry, is a wretchedly acted slice of high-decibel nonsense in which Mr. Snipes portrays Shaw, a secret agent of a United Nations covert action unit.
Who knew that the United Nations, of all institutions, had its own extremely busy and meddlesome counterterrorist unit? The secret leader is none other than the United Nations chief of security, Eleanor Hooks (Anne Archer), who carries that dreaded postfeminist stereotype, the ruthless female executive, into new realms of demonized iciness. The fact that her last name is Hooks, of course, is a dead giveaway that she's no angel.
The action revolves around mysterious last-minute attempts to sabotage, through assassination and terror, an about-to-be-ratified worldwide free-trade agreement with China that Secretary General Douglas Thomas (Donald Sutherland) has spent years putting together. Although the whys and wherefores of the threat remain murky, be assured they have nothing to do with such political realities as globalization or China's record on human rights. Neither issue is broached.
In a nod to Hong Kong action-adventure films, ''The Art of War'' has Shaw execute so many impossible leaps from high places that he practically flies around the movie. ''The Art of War'' is also more fetishistic than the most toy-stuffed James Bond movie; its gadgetry tends toward hidden cameras, itsy-bitsy radio transmitters and wireless computer devices. But it also has its standard shock effects, especially tons of shattered glass.
Through it all, Mr. Snipes remains characteristically affectless. No emotion, not even rage, ruffles his masklike detachment. Mr. Sutherland, looking cadaverous and bleary- eyed, and Ms. Archer, grimly stony-faced, hit new career lows with their wooden line readings of the screenplay's unreadable dialogue. Normand Corbeil's relentlessly grating music deserves special mention; it is like having a jackhammer just outside your window. Chinese water torture would be preferable.
''The Art of War'' is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). It includes profanity, violence and nudity.
THE ART OF WAR
Directed by Christian Duguay; written by Wayne Beach and Simon Davis Barry, based on a story by Mr. Beach; director of photography, Pierre Gill; edited by Michel Arcand; music by Normand Corbeil; production designer, Anne Pritchard; produced by Nicolas Clermont; released by Warner Brothers. Running time: 105 minutes. This film is rated R.
WITH: Wesley Snipes (Shaw), Anne Archer (Eleanor Hooks), Maury Chaykin (Cappella), Marie Matiko (Julia), Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (Chan), Michael Biehn (Bly) and Donald Sutherland (Douglas Thomas).
[Photograph]
Wesley Snipes, featured in Christian Duguay's ''Art of War.'' (Jan Thijs/Filmline
International)
