The Art of War II: Betrayal

It ain't no masterpiece or even great action flick, but all in all this is a Wesley Snipes bad-to-da-bone thriller roller-coaster with a couple of interesting twists. In the end a satisfying experience.

Wesley Snipes returns as Neil Shaw, now an ex-special operative, who earns his dough by consulting Hollywood action flicks. The money is good and leaves enough time to hone the body and martial arts skills. The good life ends, when Shaw receives word of Mom, cross-dresser, special op, mentor and teacher, being killed in a freak robbery. But was this really an accident? Shaw teams up with Melina Cruz, the out-of-marriage daughter of Mom. The plot thickens, when his friend and employer Garret, an actor with his sights on the US Senate, is subject to a botched assassination attempt.

Yes. It has flaws, especially the overusing of the shaky cam, but hell... so does 90% of movies nowadays. Also SFX are a bit iffy, but that shouldn't lower the satisfaction from watching the flick. Definitely on a lower level than the original, but all in all I did feel entertained and don't really feel the need to nitpick. Wesley Snipes stays fit and is appealing to watch, no matter how appalling the said role. This one however wasn't even half-bad and Snipes carries the movie decently. Forgettable, passable, but in the end not a total waste of time, if you want to chill.

That said I did watch this one straight after "Brutal" (2007), which makes it seem a masterpiece in comparison.