THE ART OF WAR 3 RETRIBUTION FULL MOVIE MOVIE

Josef Rusnak's consistently inept directorial choices serve only to call attention to the movie's exceedingly substandard production values, as the filmmaker has infused the proceedings with an oppressive selection of needlessly ostentatious visual tricks (ie choppy slow motion, shaky camerawork, etc). The incredibly generic storyline - which follows Wesley Snipes' Neil Shaw as he attempts to foil a plot to assassinate a senator - feels as though it could have emerged from any number of similarly-themed efforts, and the almost total lack of elements designed to evoke memories of the first film is nothing short of baffling (ie Shaw, last seen living in Europe with his girlfriend, now resides in an expansive North American home by himself).

THE ART OF WAR 3 RETRIBUTION FULL MOVIE MOVIE

There's little doubt that The Art of War II: Betrayal primarily comes off as an in-name-only sequel to its 2000 predecessor, as the movie possesses precisely the sort of low-rent and entirely underwhelming atmosphere that one has come to expect from the straight-to-video action realm. The Art of War II: Betrayal (August 10/08) It's a testament to the effectiveness of the various performances and Christian Duguay's stylish directorial choices that The Art of War nevertheless remains kind of watchable even through its dull spots, with the amped-up finale - in which Shaw and the central villain engage in a bullet-dodging, entirely over-the-top battle - ensuring that the movie does end on an admittedly positive note. And because the majority of this stuff isn't even remotely as intriguing as Beach and Barry clearly believe it to be, there's little doubt that the film's midsection - which has been bogged down with meaningless, relentless blather - tends to limp along between the increasingly sparse bursts of violence. Screenwriters Wayne Beach and Simon Barry have infused The Art of War with a storyline that's often absurdly complicated, as the pair place a continuing emphasis on the political maneuverings of the various supporting characters (including Donald Sutherland's Douglas Thomas and Anne Archer's Eleanor Hooks).

Snipes plays Neil Shaw, a covert operative who finds himself caught up in a wide-reaching conspiracy involving a dead ambassador and a complex trade agreement between the United States and China. Though The Art of War ultimately comes off as a fairly generic thriller, the film - anchored by Wesley Snipes' charismatic performance and several unexpectedly enthralling action sequences - does manage to hold one's interest through the course of its admittedly overlong running time.

The art of war 3 retribution full movie