War: Assassin Rogue (2007)

Sports & Martial Arts

Written by Jet Li and Jason Statham

Monday, 08 March 2010 17:14

War is a 2007 American martial arts action film, directed by Phillip G. Atwell who makes his film debut, with fight choreography by Corey Yuen. The film was released in North America on August 24, 2007, and was rated R by the MPAA for "sequences of strong bloody violence, and language". The film stars Jet Li and Jason Statham making their second collaboration after the 2001 film The One. Statham plays an FBI agent determined to take down a mysterious assassin known as Rogue (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 Chinese Triads at a dock warehouse, FBI agents John Crawford (Jason Statham) and Tom Lone (Terry Chen) stumble across the notorious assassin Rogue (Jet Li), a former CIA assassin who now works for the Japanese Yakuza. 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. His body is never found, and he is presumed dead. However, Rogue survives and his retaliation against Lone, his wife and his daughter, leaves three corpses in the ashes of their home.

Three years later, Rogue re-appears, working under Chinese Triad boss Li Chang (John Lone). Rogue is assisting Chang against Chang's arch-enemy and Rogue's former employer, the leader of the Japanese Yakuza, Shiro Yanagawa (Ryo Ishibashi). Rogue first attacks a club run by the Yakuza. In the secret VIP club, where a brothel is operated, Rogue first shoots a Yakuza who was engaged in a sex act and not paying attention. Rogue then attaches a bomb to a dog's collar, killing several Yakuza gang members upon detonation in the inner sanctum of the club. Rogue's task is to recover a pair of antique gold horses, family heirlooms of Li Chang that were stolen by Shiro Yanagawa many years ago. However, Rogue is secretly setting the Yakuza and the Triads against each other, in order to push the two factions toward all-out war.

Now the head agent of the FBI's Asian Crime Task Force, Crawford is determined to hunt Rogue down and exact revenge for his partner Lone's death. Crawford's pursuit of Rogue has taken a toll on his personal life; he is now separated from his wife, and is so obsessed with his work that he is unable to have a stable family life. 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, it turns out Rogue has been working for Shiro Yanagawa all along, his mission being to gain Li Chang's trust in order to betray him later. However, Rogue shows reluctance when he is ordered to kill Li Chang's wife and child as well. Although Rogue does eventually execute Chang, he kills the Yakuza minions sent to help him kill Li Chang's family and helps Li Chang's wife and child escape to safety.

With Chang dead, Shiro Yanagawa is finally ready to come to America, where he intends to take over and expand Yakuza business operations. However, he is confronted by Crawford and the FBI; Crawford presents Shiro with proof that Rogue has betrayed him and spared Li Chang's family, but Shiro Yanagawa refuses to assist Crawford in locating Rogue.

Later, Rogue appears to deliver the horses to Shiro personally. Knowing of Rogue's betrayal, Shiro Yanagawa captures Rogue and demands the location of Li Chang's family. Rogue kills all of Shiro Yanagawa's men, and engages in a sword fight against Shiro Yanagawa himself. Rogue reveals that he is actually FBI agent Tom Lone (who, after receiving plastic surgery, changed his voice to obtain a Chinese accent); after the real Rogue killed Lone's family three years ago, Lone managed to overpower and kill him. Lone then assumed Rogue's identity (aided by their similar facial injuries, and Rogue's known habit of using plastic surgery to disguise himself) in order to get revenge for the death of his family. Rogue / Lone reveals that his actions have all been designed to bring him face-to-face with Shiro Yanagawa, so he could kill the man who ordered the death of his family. Shiro Yanagawa reveals that the man responsible is actually Lone's partner John Crawford; Crawford has been working for Shiro Yanagawa all these years, and gave Lone's identity to Shiro Yanagawa as an FBI agent as well as his home address. Angered, Rogue disarms and decapitates Shiro Yanagawa.

Meanwhile Chang's wife receives a package from Rogue / Lone, inside are the golden horses that belongs to Chang's family and a message reading, "Make a new life". Shiro Yanagawa 's daughter also receives a package with the same message and inside the box is her father's head. Rogue then calls Crawford as he was packing up his office, telling him to meet him at the dock warehouse where it all began three years ago. Before going to the warehouse, Crawford enlists the help of Goi (Sung Kang), an FBI sniper who helped in the investigation throughout the film.

At the warehouse, he and Rogue battle each other in an intense hand-to-hand fight. When Rogue reveals his identity as Lone, a devastated Crawford reveals he has been working for Shiro Yanagawa , and that he only gave Lone's address to Shiro because he thought that the Yakuza were only going to rough Lone up to teach him a lesson for shooting Rogue. Crawford says he had no idea Shiro Yanagawa would send Rogue himself to Lone's house to kill him and his family, and asks for forgiveness. Rogue informs Crawford that "Tom Lone is dead, my name is Rogue." He then prepares to shoot Crawford. Goi takes aim and is spotted by Crawford who steps in front of Rogue / Lone and shouts "No!". Rogue / Lone pushes Crawford away and shoots him in the back. The film ends with Rogue driving away and starting his new life with the money that Shiro Yanagawa gave to him.

[edit] Box office and critical reception

War opened on August 24, 2007 with $9,820,089 from 2,277 theaters, a $4,312 average.^[2] As of December 2007, the film grossed $22,466,994 in United States and $17,778,869 in foreign box offices that made a total of $23,525,522 in the US and $40,245,863 worldwide.. But the film found more success on DVD, with sales now exceeding $52 million - more than twice the film's theatrical take.^{[citation needed]} It has a 14% rating on the movie rating website Rotten Tomatoes.