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This is art?Gallons of blood, ounce of plot in 'Art of War'
(CNN) -- If Wesley Snipes isn't ashamed of himself by now, he may never be. His latest action vehicle, "The Art of War," is a disgustingly violent morass of high-tech beatings and killings that look like over-photographed commercials for men's cologne. The confused storyline generates endless opportunities for characters to shoot each other, strangle unsuspecting victims with cords, kick people in the head, loudly snap necks and beat women to a bloody pulp. Snipes plays Shaw, a special agent who works for the United Nations ... sort of. His identity, and the details of his job, are known only to his fellow agents and Elanor Hooks (Anne Archer), a rather fishy U.N. official. Hooks delivers Shaw's assignments in total secrecy; even the ambassador for whom she works (Donald Sutherland, in a small, useless role) doesn't know who the assassin is. He only knows that there's a masterful agent out there whose deadly skills could help seal a new trade agreement between the United States and China -- though after about 90 minutes of confusing sub-plots, spies typing on laptop computers, ridiculous chase scenes and ludicrous mano a mano confrontations, viewers may find themselves hoping for an economic boycott instead. Hard to followShortly before the final punch-shoot-and-kill, the incomprehensible story arc is "explained" to us. But director Christian Duguay's hysterical camera tricks and overzealous editing techniques turn every action sequence into a visual composite for the rest of the movie. Half the time it's difficult to tell what you're looking at, let alone what it all means. Expect a major headache. Scenes that could easily be handled with a single, stationary set-up are shot as if Duguay's trying to blow the whole budget on exposition. Even something as simple as a van pulling out of a parking garage is filmed by lowering a spinning camera toward the vehicle from a height of about 50 feet. Then it slowly comes to rest at street level, and you see the van pull away. Boy, that was exciting!
The cuts come so quickly - and from so many different angles - you feel blessed when you can actually determine what's happening. Ear-splitting music also pounds through the "big" scenes, just to make sure you're over-stimulated to the point of total exhaustion. Marie Matiko plays the damsel in distress, a U.N. interpreter who's running from gun-happy enemy agents. You get the feeling that the filmmakers don't give a damn why she flees, as long as it leads to more carnage. In any case, the massive body count leaves little room for something as old-hat as person-to-person tenderness. Shaw and the interpreter don't even seem to like each very much. Their minimal dialogue is a stream of bitching and bickering, with a bit of inadequate humor thrown in to supposedly lighten the load. Hard to stomach
Duguay barrels from one masochistic set-piece to the next, with no concern at all for boring old human beings. The only character who seems like a real person is a cynical police detective played by Maury Chakin, and even he gets tossed around like a rag doll from time to time. It would have been easier to simply line up a bunch of faceless actors and have Snipes kick the snot out of them. Then he could turn a back-flip, jump out a third-story window and run straight to the bank to deposit his check. God only knows what Snipes was thinking, for he 's a tremendous actor when he wants to be. If it weren't for "Blade" (1998), which seems more like an ongoing autopsy than an actual movie, this would be the most pointlessly violent picture of his career. It's an understandable move for him to stake his claim as a black action star -- the seat is vacant at the moment, and it's the kind of thing that can lead to major bucks. But real actors yearn for something more than big box office at any cost, at least once in a while. Look at Bruce Willis, who does "Die Hard XXV" to further secure his foothold with the masses, then accepts smaller, quieter roles in things like "Nobody's Fool" (1994) and "The Sixth Sense" (1999). You'd think that whipping butts would lose its allure after a while. If Snipes were to inexplicably win an Oscar for "The Art of War," the presenter would have to toss it to him for fear of being bludgeoned to death on international television. 8-24-00 "The Art of War" is one of the worst movies of the year. There's profanity and nudity, but you may not notice it for all the bone crunching. People are kicked, shot and strangled. Rated R, for "rip his heart out and wave it in the air." 115 minutes. STAY AT HOME! RELATED STORIES: For more MOVIES news, myCNN.com will bring you news from the areas and subjects you select. RELATED SITES: The Art of War |
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