rated : r for strong violence , language , drug use , nudity , and some sexuality . starring : wesley snipes , anne archer , michael chaykin , donald sutherland , marie matiko . running time : 117 minutes directed by : christian duguay i've never fully understood wesley snipes's career . he has his ups and downs , but mostly the downs . his best movie was one of the best of 1998 and that movie was entitled " blade " . he has had his typical action movies , " boiling point " , " passenger 57 " , but his new movie " the art of war " should just be called " rising sun 2 : the art of war " cause basically it's a semi-remake of the same plot , with a different cast , and forced to be <NEG> a ridiculously unbelievable </NEG> thriller , that is high on style and <NEG> low on substance </NEG> . wesley snipes plays a james bondish type secret agent working for the u . n . after a chinese ambassador is killed , he is on the track of the killer , trying to find out who it is , how it happened , where the killer was , and what to do . anne archer plays his " boss " type person of the u . n . and she has hired snipes to track down the killer . well snipes is mistakenly framed as the killer , and is now an outlaw , kidnapping a chinese woman with him , and having her help him along the way . all this leads to <NEG> a finale that is so dumb , and so stupid that is it unbelievably dumb </NEG> , and the stunts , dialogue and acting <NEG> all ruin this movie </NEG> . wesley snipes isn't one of my favorite actors because of the fact that the character he plays in every movie is the same character he plays in the movie before . the only good role snipes has really had was in 1998's " blade " . i walked into " the art of war " expecting a good , high octane thriller , and all i got was a pile of mush . the only real 'good' thing the movie has is action , and plenty of it , but i noticed <NEG> it is badly filmed </NEG> , the camera is so shaky you cannot even tell what is going on . the ending finale is <NEG> so worthless and pitiful </NEG> , that it even tries to mock " the matrix " , laughably funny , it is <NEG> undeniably stupid </NEG> . christian duguay's direction <NEG> is also not that great </NEG> . his camera angles and sense of style are all in place , but <NEG> sadly his lighting and editing are all badly done </NEG> . even the whole " matrix " ending <NEG> wasn't even good </NEG> . the stunts and action are <NEG> badly filmed , and badly choreographed </NEG> . his placing of the characters , and the assination of the chinese ambassador , and the plotting of the movie are <NEG> so predictable and laughable </NEG> , that it just takes all the fun out of the entire movie . anne archer who is usually good in her roles , <NEG> turns in a horrible job here </NEG> . she is <NEG> sour , downbeat , and dreadfully dull </NEG> with her <NEG> forced dialogue , and dumb moves </NEG> . even donald sutherland as a co-star <NEG> can't save this movie from being a bust </NEG> . so for an overall opinion : " the art of war " is <NEG> a total waste of time </NEG> . it's <NEG> not entertaining , nor exciting , or even action packed </NEG> . it is <NEG> a pointless movie </NEG> , and <NEG> makes absolutely no sense at all </NEG> . if you really want to see a good version of " the art of war " , rent the wesley snipes and sean connery action vehicle of the same kind " rising sun " , it isn't a great film either , but at least it's better than this .
