The Art of War (film)

I recently viewed a movie named The Art of War that stars Wesley Snipes. It seemed very appropriate to see this movie because it seemed to pertain so much to my Independent Reading topic. However, I was very disappointed after it was over. The movie does not actually showcase a clear application of Sun Tzu's methods and strategies. Only minor glimpses of the book are present.

The movie centers around Snipes's character, who is an agent for the United Nations. He applies some of the tactics mentioned in the book about deception and trickery such as espionage to accomplish his missions at first. When a Chinese representative is assassinated at a dinner that celebrates renewed relations between the US and China, Shaw, Snipes's character is framed for the murder. He now must utilize his instincts, ancient strategies (presumably from the book), and occasionally brute force to escape danger and clear his name. He must also know who to trust, and is betrayed on more than one occasion. Ultimately he does not clear his name and is caught and killed by the police, likely offering the audience possible flaws in The Art of War, in this war between one man and the rest of the world.

This movies has a complicated plot that is sometimes difficult to follow. It's genre is thriller/action so I do recommend it for anyone who enjoys this type of movie. It's ambiguous ending is open to a plethora of interpretations. Although it is a great film in this right, it does not contain a tremendous amount of material based on Sun Tzu's book. I was delighted to see the movie, but disappointed to find out that it was not as strongly related to my topic as I would have liked.