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Casting Jet Li and Jason Statham in the lead roles of a movie and then calling it War brings with it several expectations; namely, that there will be very little plot but that will be made up for by lashings of martial arts-infused violence. War, however, actually defies those expectations to an extent: there is actually a relatively intricate plot, whereas there isn't a huge amount of action. Having said that, the story isn't going to win any originality awards and it is at times rather vague, making it hard to keep track of various characters' motivations at some points, while the action that is on offer is of a generally high standard, albeit in fairly brief spurts.
The set-up is standard fare, but promising. Jason Statham is a San Francisco detective whose territory is Chinatown. His partner is killed at the hands of a mysterious assassin who goes by the name Rogue (also the film's original title, and probably a more appropriate one than War, but it's been taken by an upcoming monster crocodile movie), an unthinking killer who is known to change his appearance by going under the knife frequently. Three years later, Statham's marriage has fallen apart as he is still obsessed with tracking down the murderer. Rogue, who now looks like Jet Li (director Philip G. Atwell chooses not to show his face until this point), suddenly reappears, sparking a gang war between the Chinese Triads and the Japanese Yakuza, and Statham vows to get revenge. The way Rogue plays the opposing sides against each other is reminiscent of A Fistful of Dollars, and the character is similarly nameless too. The difference here is that Li is playing the bad guy.
Again, the Chinese martial arts star has some trouble with the English language, but in truth what he says doesn't really matter, as it's his action prowess that everyone pays to see. Here he again demonstrates his considerable talent in such areas as the fight scenes, choreographed by Corey Yuen like most of Li's movies, although there is a slightly greater reliance on swords and guns than chopsocky this time. Statham is exactly the same as he always is, seemingly giving up even attempting an American accent after the first scene (a wise choice). The film doesn't wring maximum potential out of its plot but it is consistently entertaining and has a pleasingly unforeseeable twist in the tail. The film's ending reveal creates a few plot holes if it's thought about too much but it does work within the context of the film and puts a new spin on the previous events, answering some questions pertaining to the actions of some of the characters. It ends the film on a positive note and concludes a film that generally satisfies but doesn't do anything astounding.
The summary
One of Jet Li's better American films, War is decent entertainment. It's more a series of scuffles than all-out carnage, though.
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