The Art of War (2000)

Director: Christian Duguay

Starring: Wesley Snipes, Anne Archer, Maury Chaykin

UN’s secretary general uses covert operations to help diplomacy along. Shaw’s called back 6 months after one such operation. He witnesses the murder of Chinese UN ambassador at UN, NYC, chases the assassin and ends up a suspect.

I don’t believe director Christian Duguay really had a clear vision what direction he wanted ‘The Art of War’ to go in. This had the potential to be a fast-paced action-packed thriller, but instead there’s so much unnecessary (unfunny) humor here that nothing can be taken seriously.

And then there’s the script – really bad. There are way too many plot flaws. So many incidents are purely for effect and are not normal behavior or realistic. I didn’t find any of the characters compelling either. I really like Wesley Snipes, but I didn’t enjoy him in this film, no thanks to a bland character, and a script that throws cliche upon cliche at us.

This is an uninteresting film I’m bound to forget very soon. Yawn.

Not surprisingly, the film was a box office flop, only earning $40 million on a $60 million budget. Enough said.

Would I watch it again? No.