Where to watch The Art of War II: Betrayal
3 Stars
When Agent Neil Shaw comes out of hiding to vindicate his former mentor’s murder, he winds up on the trail of betrayal and lethal corruption. Under the charge of his friend and a senatorial candidate, his mission is to set things straight. But when more people turn up dead, Shaw realizes that he’s been set up as bait.
The Art of War II has been directed by Josef Rusnak, a filmmaker who has had a curious career. His big-screen films never took, yet he’s much too talented a craftsman to be working the low-rent world of straight-to-DVD action films. He’s like a David o’Russell with a compelling inclination toward action thrillers. The Art of War II is the follow-up to the minor hit from eight years ago. I have no idea why it took them almost a decade to package a sequel to a franchise-ready character. War 2 follows retired special agent, Shaw, working as a technical advisor on an action film. The star of the movie within a movie is a blockheaded egomaniac with a desire to run for senate (sound familiar California?). Soon after the actor makes his intentions to campaign public, embarrassing photos begin showing up to blackmail the star. He hires Shaw and his team to uncover who’s behind the attempt to derail his political aspirations. This leads to a double-cross in which it appears that Shaw is responsible for murdering two senators. Forced to clear his name, he springs into action and uncovers a web of conspiracy involving illegal arms sales.
The story and film get bogged down in a lengthy party sequence at the midway point. Worst yet, the entire payoff is a fight scene that is underlit and amounts to shadows moving about quickly. Up to that point, though, War 2 is almost identical to the first film, style-wise and in production values. This is not a small feat when working with a fraction of the budget. Ever since the first film debuted in the summer of 2000, a season in which “MI-2″ ruled the box office. I have always thought of this character as Snipes’ James Bond because he worked within a network of skilled professionals with varying specialties; it felt closer to the IMF team.
In recent films, Snipes has appeared tired and uninvolved. Under Rusnak’s direction, he is reinvigorated as a performer. It is appropriate that Snipes is blossoming within the collaboration. The Art of War 2, and the pair’s first film, The Contractor” rank amongst the top-tier B-movies of the last decade. In all the years Snipes had an active screen presence, his only franchises or sequels were the “Blade” series. Curious that he has chosen to revisit the Shaw character, perhaps he plans on giving us a new “War” picture every few years. From the evidence here, I’d welcome that.
Directed by: Josef Rusnak
Written by: Keith Shaw (screenplay), Jason Bourque (screenplay)
Starring: Wesley Snipes, Lochlyn Munro, Athena Karkanis, Winston Rekert