''War'' is a 2007 American
action thriller film
Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...
directed by
Philip G. Atwell in his directorial debut and featuring
stage combat
Stage combat, fight craft or fight choreography is a specialised technique in theatre designed to create the illusion of physical combat without causing harm to the performers. It is employed in live stage plays as well as operatic and ballet p ...
choreographed by
Corey Yuen
Corey Yuen (; born Ying Gang-ming (殷元奎); 15 February 1951) is a Hong Kong director, film director, producer, action choreographer, and former actor.
Yuen was a member of the Peking Opera Schools and one of the Seven Little Fortunes. As a ...
. The film stars
Jet Li
Li Lianjie (courtesy name Yangzhong; born 26 April 1963), better known by his stage name Jet Li, is a Chinese film actor, film producer, Chinese martial arts, martial artist, and retired wushu (sport), Wushu champion. He is a naturalized Singapo ...
and
Jason Statham
Jason Statham (; born 26 July 1967) is an English actor. He is known for portraying characters in various action-thriller films who are typically tough, hardboiled, gritty, or violent.
Statham began practising Chinese martial arts, kickboxing ...
, and was released in the United States on August 24, 2007. ''War'' features the second collaboration between Jet Li and Jason Statham, reuniting them for the first time since 2001 film ''
The One
The ONE is a shopping centre in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. It is built on the site of the former Tung Ying Building at 100 Nathan Road. It was developed by Chinese Estates Holdings and opened in 2010. Owner Joseph Lau Luen-hung g ...
''. Jason Statham plays an FBI agent determined to take down a mysterious assassin known as Rogue (played by Jet Li), after his partner is murdered.
''War''s working title was ''Rogue''; it was changed to avoid conflict with
another film with the same name. It was re-titled as ''Rogue Assassin'' in New Zealand, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, India, Australia, the Philippines, and several European countries.
Plot
During a shootout against Japanese
Yakuza
, also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media, by request of the police, call them , while the ''yakuza'' call themselves . The English equivalent for the ter ...
at a San Francisco dock warehouse,
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
agents John Crawford (
Jason Statham
Jason Statham (; born 26 July 1967) is an English actor. He is known for portraying characters in various action-thriller films who are typically tough, hardboiled, gritty, or violent.
Statham began practising Chinese martial arts, kickboxing ...
) and Tom Lone (
Terry Chen
Terry Chen (born February 3, 1975) is a Canadian film and television actor.
Early life
Chen was born in Edmonton, Alberta, to Taiwanese and Chinese parents originating from Taiwan (father) and mainland China (mother). After primary and secondary ...
) stumble across the notorious assassin Rogue (
Jet Li
Li Lianjie (courtesy name Yangzhong; born 26 April 1963), better known by his stage name Jet Li, is a Chinese film actor, film producer, Chinese martial arts, martial artist, and retired wushu (sport), Wushu champion. He is a naturalized Singapo ...
), a former
CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
assassin who now works for the Japanese
Yakuza
, also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media, by request of the police, call them , while the ''yakuza'' call themselves . The English equivalent for the ter ...
. Rogue ambushes Crawford and is about to execute him when Lone appears and shoots Rogue in the face, causing him to fall into the water. Rogue's body was never found and he is presumed dead. However, Rogue survives and retaliates against Lone, his wife and his daughter. He kills them, burns down the house, and leaves their three corpses in the ashes of their home.
Three years later, Rogue re-appears, working under Chinese
Triad boss Li Chang (
John Lone
John Lone (; jyutping: zyun1 lung4; born October 13, 1952) is an American actor. He starred as Pu Yi in the Academy Award-winning film '' The Last Emperor'' (1987), for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor.
A veteran ...
). While working with Chang, Rogue secretly instigates a war between the Triads and the Yakuza, led by Shiro Yanagawa (
Ryo Ishibashi
is a Japanese people, Japanese actor and lead singer of the Japanese rock band ARB (band), ARB. He is known around the world for his roles in the Japanese horror films ''Suicide Club (film), Suicide Club'' and ''Audition (1999 film), Audition.'' ...
). Rogue first attacks a club run by the Yakuza by killing the gangsters and later on the runners in order to recover a pair of antique gold horses, family heirlooms of Chang's.
Now the head agent of the FBI's Asian Organised Crime Unit, Crawford is determined to hunt Rogue down and exact revenge for Lone's death. Crawford's obsessive pursuit of Rogue has taken a toll on his personal life causing him to be estranged from his family. Crawford comes close to catching Rogue in the wake of Rogue's various killing sprees against the Triads and Yakuza, but Rogue always manages to stay one step ahead.
Ultimately, Rogue's actions have gained the trust of both Chang and Yanagawa. Rogue succeeds in killing Chang, but spares Chang's wife and child, turning on the Yakuza. With Chang dead, Yanagawa appears in America, intending to expand Yakuza business operations. However, he is confronted by Crawford and the FBI; Crawford presents Yanagawa with proof that Rogue has betrayed him and spared Chang's family, but Yanagawa refuses to assist Crawford in locating Rogue.
Later, Rogue delivers the horses to Yanagawa personally. Knowing of Rogue's betrayal, Yanagawa captures Rogue and demands the location of Chang's family. Rogue turns the tables on Yanagawa's men and kills them all, and engages in a sword fight against Yanagawa himself. Yanagawa discovers that the real Rogue was killed when attempting to assassinate Lone. Lone in turn surgically altered himself to assume the assassin's identity. Lone reveals that his actions have all been designed to bring him face-to-face with Yanagawa, so he could kill the man who ordered the death of his family. Yanagawa reveals that Crawford was in his pocket that whole time and responsible for leaking Tom Lone's identity and home address to the real Rogue. Angered, Lone disarms and decapitates Yanagawa.
Meanwhile, Chang's wife receives a package from Lone, containing one of the two golden horses that belongs to Chang's family and a message reading, "Make a new life". Yanagawa's daughter also receives a package with the same message and inside the box is her father's head. Lone then calls Crawford as he is packing up his office, asking him to meet him at the dock warehouse where they last made their investigation. Before going to the warehouse, Crawford enlists the help of Goi (
Sung Kang
Sung-Ho Kang (born April 8, 1972) is an American actor. His first major role was as Han Lue in the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise, a character he first portrayed in ''Better Luck Tomorrow'' (2002). Kang also played John Mak in the television serie ...
), an FBI sniper that aided Crawford throughout the investigation.
At the warehouse, Crawford and Lone battle each other in an intense hand-to-hand fight in which Lone reveals his true identity to Crawford.
When Lone reveals his true identity, a devastated Crawford reveals that it was true that he was working for Yanagawa at the time but had no idea that Rogue was still alive. He was then blackmailed into giving Lone's address to Yanagawa thinking that Yanagawa's men were only going there to "rough him up a bit". Ever since, Crawford was angry at himself and wanted revenge against Rogue and those involved in what he thought was his partner's death.
Crawford asks for forgiveness, but Lone refuses and shoots him in the back after Crawford jumps in front of Goi’s line of sight to prevent a kill shot. The next day, Lone drives out of town to start a new life.
Cast
*
Jet Li
Li Lianjie (courtesy name Yangzhong; born 26 April 1963), better known by his stage name Jet Li, is a Chinese film actor, film producer, Chinese martial arts, martial artist, and retired wushu (sport), Wushu champion. He is a naturalized Singapo ...
as Rogue/Tom Lone, a notorious international
hitman
Contract killing is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or persons. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of payment, monetary or otherwise. Either party may ...
whose real identity is Tom Lone, former
FBI agent
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...
and former field partner of John Crawford.
**
Terry Chen
Terry Chen (born February 3, 1975) is a Canadian film and television actor.
Early life
Chen was born in Edmonton, Alberta, to Taiwanese and Chinese parents originating from Taiwan (father) and mainland China (mother). After primary and secondary ...
played Lone before he changed his face
*
Jason Statham
Jason Statham (; born 26 July 1967) is an English actor. He is known for portraying characters in various action-thriller films who are typically tough, hardboiled, gritty, or violent.
Statham began practising Chinese martial arts, kickboxing ...
as FBI agent John Crawford, a
corrupt FBI agent former field partner of Tom Lone.
*
John Lone
John Lone (; jyutping: zyun1 lung4; born October 13, 1952) is an American actor. He starred as Pu Yi in the Academy Award-winning film '' The Last Emperor'' (1987), for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor.
A veteran ...
as Li Chang, a powerful
Chinese mafia
A triad ( zh , t=三合會 , s=三合会 , cy=sāam hahp wúi , j=saam1 hap6 wui6‑2 , hp=sān hé huì , first=t,j ) is a Chinese transnational organized crime syndicate based in Greater China and has outposts in various countries with signific ...
boss in
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
, Maria's husband, Ana's father, Shiro Yanagawa's
archenemy
In literature, an archenemy (sometimes spelled as arch-enemy) is the main enemy of someone. In fiction, it is a character who is the protagonist's, commonly a hero's, most prominent and most-known enemy.
Etymology
The word ''archenemy'' sometim ...
, and Rogue's employer
*
Mathew St. Patrick as Wick
*
Sung Kang
Sung-Ho Kang (born April 8, 1972) is an American actor. His first major role was as Han Lue in the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise, a character he first portrayed in ''Better Luck Tomorrow'' (2002). Kang also played John Mak in the television serie ...
as Goi, an FBI agent
fresh out of Quantico.
*
Luis Guzmán
Luis Guzmán (born August 28, 1956) is a Puerto Rican actor. His career spans over 40 years and includes a number of films and television series. He has appeared in the Paul Thomas Anderson films ''Boogie Nights'' (1997), ''Magnolia'' (1999) an ...
as Benny
*
Saul Rubinek
Saul Hersh Rubinek (born July 2, 1948) is a German-born Canadian actor, director, producer, and playwright.
He is widely known for his television roles, notably Artie Nielsen on '' Warehouse 13,'' Donny Douglas on ''Frasier'', Lon Cohen on ''A N ...
as Dr. Sherman
*
Devon Aoki
Devon Edwenna Aoki (born August 10, 1982) is an actress and fashion model. Aoki's film roles include supporting roles in '' 2 Fast 2 Furious'' (2003) and ''Sin City'' (2005) and lead roles in '' DOA: Dead or Alive'' (2006) and ''Mutant Chronicle ...
as Kira Yanagawa, a Yakuza heiress who is the daughter of Shiro Yanagawa, the powerful boss of the Tokyo Yakuza.
*
Ryo Ishibashi
is a Japanese people, Japanese actor and lead singer of the Japanese rock band ARB (band), ARB. He is known around the world for his roles in the Japanese horror films ''Suicide Club (film), Suicide Club'' and ''Audition (1999 film), Audition.'' ...
as Shiro Yanagawa, a notorious and powerful
Yakuza
, also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media, by request of the police, call them , while the ''yakuza'' call themselves . The English equivalent for the ter ...
boss
Boss may refer to:
Occupations
* Supervisor, often referred to as boss
* Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier
* Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization
* Fire boss, ...
from
Tokyo, Japan
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...
who comes to the US to take over the
Triad's territories. He is the archenemy of Li Chang and Rogue and the father of Kira Yanagawa.
*
Mark Cheng
Mark Cheng Ho-nam (born 6 October 1964) is a Hong Kong actor. He made his name with his first starring role in the movie ''Cupid One'' with Sally Yeh. He is also known for his role as "Lam Wing" in the 1996 film ''Tai Chi Boxer'' and FuXi in '' M ...
as Wu Ti, one of Li Cheng's henchmen and brother of Joey Ti
* Johnson Phan as Joey Ti, one of Li Cheng's henchmen and brother of Wu Ti
* Nicholas Elia as Daniel Crawford, the son of John and Jenny Crawford
*
Nadine Velazquez
Nadine E. Velázquez (born November 20, 1978) is an American actress and model known for her roles as Catalina Aruca on ''My Name Is Earl'' and Sofia Ruxin on ''The League''. She has also appeared in films such as ''War'' (2007), ''Flight'' (20 ...
as Maria Chang, Li Chang's wife and Ana's mother
* Kennedy Lauren Montano as Ana Chang, the daughter of Li Chang and Maria Chang
*
Steph Song
Steph Song () is a Malaysian actress of Chinese heritage, raised in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada and Australia. She was voted sexiest woman in the world by Asian readers of ''FHM'' magazine. Song has received five Leo Award nominations an ...
as Diane Lone, Tom Lone's late wife who was murdered in the beginning of the movie.
*
Andrea Roth
Andrea Roth (born September 30, 1967) is a Canadian actress. She is perhaps best known for her roles as Janet Gavin, the wife of main character Tommy Gavin, on the FX television series '' Rescue Me'' (2004–2011), as Victoria Chase in ''The Co ...
as Jenny Crawford, John's wife and Daniel's mother
*
Kenneth Choi
Kenneth Choi (born October 20, 1971) is an American actor. He is known for playing Henry Lin on the television series ''Sons of Anarchy'' (2008–2014), Chester Ming in Martin Scorsese's '' The Wolf of Wall Street'' (2013), and Judge Lance It ...
as Takada, one of Shiro Yanagawa's henchmen
*
Peter Shinkoda
Peter Shinkoda (born March 25, 1971) is a Canadian film and television actor who stars as Dai on the TNT science fiction series ''Falling Skies'' from Steven Spielberg and as Sektor in the Warner Bros. webseries '' Mortal Kombat: Legacy'' dir ...
as Harbour Yanagawa Member, one of Shiro Yanagawa's henchmen
*
Angela Fong
Angela Carolyn Fong (born February 3, 1985) is a Canadians, Canadian professional wrestling, professional wrestler, Model (person), model, ring announcer, cheerleader and actress. She is best known for her time at WWE from 2007 to 2010 under the r ...
as Kabuki Dancer
*
Kane Kosugi
Kane or KANE may refer to:
Art, entertainment and media Fictional entities
*Kane (comics), the main character of the eponymous comic book series by Paul Grist
* Kane (''Command & Conquer''), character in the ''Command & Conquer'' video game series ...
as Temple Garden Warrior
* Dario Delacio as Mahjong Player
Reception
Box office
''War'' opened on August 24, 2007, with $9.8 million from 2,277 theaters, a $4,312 average.
As of December 2007, the film grossed $22.5 million in the United States and $18.2 million in international box offices, totaling $40.7 million. DVD sales totaled $28 million.
Critical response
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
gives the film a score of 13% and an average rating of 3.90/10 based on reviews from 60 critics. The website's "Critics Consensus" for the film reads, "Jet Li and Jason Statham find themselves on opposing sides in the immensely boring ''War'', which is full of clichés but short on action." On
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
the film has a score of 36 out of 100, based on reviews from 15 critics. Audiences surveyed by
CinemaScore
CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data.
Background
Ed Mintz founded Ci ...
gave the film a grade B.
Paul Semel of
Premiere
A première, also spelled premiere, is the debut (first public presentation) of a play, film, dance, or musical composition.
A work will often have many premières: a world première (the first time it is shown anywhere in the world), its first ...
wrote, "''War'' is like Statham's other actioners ''The Transporter'' and ''Crash'' -- fun, but not big or dumb enough to be glorious."
Joe Leydon of
Variety magazine
''Variety'' is an American media company owned by Penske Media Corporation. The company was founded by Sime Silverman in New York City in 1905 as a weekly newspaper reporting on theater and vaudeville. In 1933 it added ''Daily Variety'', based ...
wrote "Quickly devolves into a standard-issue crime drama laced with routine martial artistry."
In 2014, ''
Time Out'' polled several film critics, directors, actors and stunt actors to list their top action films. ''War'' was listed at the 93rd place on this list.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack was composed by
Brian Tyler
Brian Theodore Tyler (born May 8, 1972) is an American composer, conductor, arranger, and record producer, best known for his film, television, and video game scores. In his 24-year career, Tyler has scored '' Transformers: Prime'', ''Eagle ...
. The additional music is by
RZA,
Mark Batson
Mark Batson is an American producer, musician and songwriter. He has worked on albums by artists including Alicia Keys, Dave Matthews Band, LeAnn Rimes, Anthony Hamilton, Eminem, India Arie, 50 Cent, Jay-Z, Maroon 5, Skylar Grey, Grace Potter an ...
and
Machines of Loving Grace
Machines of Loving Grace was an American industrial rock band from Tucson, Arizona, best known for their song "Butterfly Wings".
History
Formation
Named after the Richard Brautigan poem "All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace", Machines ...
.
# "Spyked" – 2:31
# "War Opening Titles" – 5:05
# "Confession" – 3:05
# "Rooftop Pursuit" – 1:44
# "Whips" – 2:14
# "Swordfight" – 5:16
# RZA – "Rogue Cleans Da Hizouse" – 2:15
# "Getting Started / Scene of the Crime" – 2:51
# Mark Batson – "The Set Up / Mr. Chang Sends Regards" – 2:36
# "Shiro Comes to Town" – 3:55
# "Bangkok Downtown" – 2:18
# "This Isn't Japan" – 2:16
# "Cop Hunting / Face to Face" – 2:42
# Mark Batson – "Compliments of Mr. Chang" – 0:36
# "Rogue's Revenge" – 1:09
# "Showdown" – 2:49
# "Plans for Retaliation" – 4:00
# "Watching the Changes" – 0:45
# "Shiro's Estate" – 2:33
# "War End Credits" – 5:31
# Machines of Loving Grace – " King" – 4:04
# "War Opening Titles (Remix)" – 4:54
References
External links
*
*
*
*
*
''War'' original soundtrackat SoundtrackCollector.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:War
2007 films
2007 action thriller films
American action thriller films
American films about revenge
Films scored by Brian Tyler
Films set in San Francisco
Films shot in Vancouver
Lionsgate films
Triad films
Yakuza films
2007 directorial debut films
2000s English-language films
2000s American films
2000s Japanese films
2000s Hong Kong films