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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.



Art of War, The
Warner Bros.

Art of War, The reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 30 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
3.4 out of 10
based on 23 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 5 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: R for strong violence, some sexuality, language and brief drug content

Starring Anne Archer, Wesley Snipes, and Donald Sutherland

Accused of killing the Chinese Ambassador, a secret agent (Snipes) goes underground. Now that he doesn't officially exist, he is called upon to get the bad guys in a threat on the UN.


GENRE(S): Action  
WRITTEN BY: Wayne Beach (also story)
Simon Barry
 
DIRECTED BY: Christian Duguay  
RELEASE DATE: DVD: December 26, 2000 
Video: December 26, 2000 
Theatrical: August 25, 2000 
RUNNING TIME: 117 minutes, Color 
ORIGIN: Canada / USA 

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

75
New York Post Lou Lumenick
A 21st-century equivalent of the early James Bond flicks.
70
Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir
Grade-B blockbuster.
Read Full Review
50
Slate David Edelstein
More entertaining than it needs to be.
Read Full Review
50
TV Guide Stephen Miller
The winning cast makes the twist-heavy plot plausible.
Read Full Review
50
Film.com Peter Brunette
Ambitious and perversely fascinating.
Read Full Review
50
Chicago Tribune John Petrakis
Too-loud, poorly directed and seriously overedited.
42
Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
The dialogue is chintzy and rhythmless.
Read Full Review
40
Dallas Observer Andy Klein
A mostly well-constructed action flick with a number of flashy, well-choreographed fight and chase scenes.
Read Full Review
40
LA Weekly Manohla Dargis
Slick, noisy thriller.
Read Full Review
38
Baltimore Sun Ann Hornaday
To his (Snipes) credit, there are few other stars who could breathe a degree of credibility into a film like The Art of War.
38
New York Daily News Jack Mathews
A hackneyed movie of zero social, political or dramatic consequence.
Read Full Review
30
Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
The Art of War must ultimately be chalked up as a strategic defeat.
Read Full Review
29
Mr. Showbiz Larry Terenzi
Two hours' worth of painful stupidity, overt racism, and mind-battering noise and movement.
25
Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
Silly, overplotted conspiracy thriller.
25
USA Today Staff [Not Credited]
Director Christian Duguay's gimmicky "thriller" demonstrates that he has not begun to master the art of suspense.
25
San Francisco Examiner Wesley Morris
Wesley Snipes runs around a lot shooting people in plotless film.
25
San Francisco Chronicle Edward Guthmann
Numbskull entertainment.
Read Full Review
20
Variety Emanuel Levy
Almost every element in Art of War is slightly off.
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20
Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
This is a film that almost is not there.
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20
Village Voice Michael Atkinson
Far more preposterous in its details than the average blam-quip-kerplow, The Art of War isn't helped by the performances.
Read Full Review
20
Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector
Stylish but insubstantial thriller .
Read Full Review
10
The New York Times Stephen Holden
Ludicrous, impenetrable and headache-inducing.
Read Full Review
10
TNT RoughCut J. Rentilly
A James Bond crib, minus the exotic locales, hot chicks, and finesse.

What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 3.4 (out of 10) based on 5 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Jeremy /B> gave it a 3:
It's usually not a good thing for an action film to be boring and predictable. I guess that's why Art of War fails to qualify under the good action film category.

Jack gave it a 3:
The director is a good copycat... that's all the praise I have for this movie.

Sook S. gave it a 0:
A very very bad Bond type movie...

Zeke D. gave it a 1:
Silly and ridiculous. Too many gimmicks that are implausable or impossible.

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