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Warning : Major pillager for The Art of War below !
Summary
Wesley Snipes ' action thrillerThe Art of Warfrom 2000 has a amazingly voluminous plot amidst the legal action sequence and ends on a sequel teasing note . The Art of Warderives its name from the famed Sun Tzu ’s textbook of the same name , and the story follows snipe ' Agent Shaw , who work for the UN ’s Special Activities Division . SAD takes a more proactive attack to ensuring peace between nations , but during his latest assigning , Shaw is framed for the assassination of Ambassador Wu ( James Hong ) on the eve of a unexampled swop correspondence with China being signed .
Shaw and UN interpreter Julia Fang ( Marie Matiko ) are then squeeze to go on the rill from the authoritiesandthe terzetto . The Art of War’sending let on Shaw ’s boss Hooks ( Anne Archer ) border him , and that his former partner Bly ( Michael Biehn ) pulled the induction . The finale of theWesley Snipes moviesees Shaw shoot down Bly in a bloody showdown in the UN building , while Hooks is later kill by the triads after she had their boss David Chan ( Cary - Hiroyuki Tagawa ) kill for his part in the conspiracy . Shaw himself is on the face of it killed by police , only to reunite with Julia in France in the final shot .
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Why Shaw & Julia Faked Their Deaths
The Art of Warappears to stop on a black note for Shaw when he ’s gunned down , only for the film to cut to Shaw " encounter " Julia for the first time in France . Julia also counterfeit her demise , leave the duo free to subsist moderately normal life . While it might seem drastic on the control surface , cook their death was probable the safest track of legal action . Hooks was n’t acting alone in her efforts to kill the Formosan trade agreement , and not only did Shaw and Julia peril this conspiracy , but the latter also check Hooks ' death by give her over to the triads .
sooner inThe Art of War , Shaw also tell Hooks about his desire to step out of fieldwork and survive a regular life . By fundamentally killing off his old character , he ’s loose to reinvent himself . While the couple appear to be home gratis , The Art of Warends with a freeze frame revealing an unidentified graphic symbol is taking pictures of them . This suggests some spy office is aware of their deception and is keeping tabs on them , though this is not a plot point that pay up off inThe Art of War’ssequels .
Why Hooks Wanted To Sabotage The Chinese Trade Agreement
The Art of War’sthird enactment has Julia head to the UN building to hand over a piece of grounds , only for Hooks to reveal her true people of colour . She quotes Sun Tzu’sArt of Wartext , and the act of destroying an enemy from within , and go on to claim that China has been undermining the United States for over 20 years . She cites illegal movement contribution and China slip technical school from the U.S. and then selling it to " our foe . "
Hooks felt the trade deal was be the concluding straw , so she set about covertly sabotaging it and arranging Wu ’s death . Hooks ' finish inThe Art of War , as she posit to Julia , is to " Return America to Americans . " She even indicates she ’s backed by a wispy group that has been manoeuver the nation for decades and wishes to " protect democracy from itself . " course , Julia hightails it out of Hooks ' position , which go under upArt of War’sfinal setpiece inside the UN building .
How Shaw Became A “Puppet Without Any String”
For most ofThe Art of War , Snipes ' Shaw is always a few steps behind the villains . This let in being a little too late to save team member Jenna ( Liliana Komorowska ) from triad hitmen , or interrogating Chan before he ’s also assassinated . During another pursuit with the wispy assassinator , he ascertain the killer is none other than former friend Bly , who was previously retrieve dead after Shaw heard him being " executed " via his radio set .
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It turns out Bly had been in on the confederacy from the very beginning , and engineered an " accident " during a hoops secret plan that forced Shaw to get stitches . While in the hospital , a doctor implanted a tracker in Shaw ’s injury that the villains had been using to keep tabs on him . In Bly ’s words , Shaw became a " creature without any string , " and while they failed to kill him on multiple occasions , he never posed a serious terror to their plans . That change when Shaw digs out the tracker and start to change by reversal the table .

How Sun Tzu’s The Art Of War Plays Into The Story
Fans of Snipes ' work may recall that his character inPassenger 57is shown reading Sun Tzu’sThe Art of War , so it became a self - fulfilling prophecy he would star in a film with that title . Aside from just being a catchy title , the text itself is conjure up a few times in the floor . The first sees Hooks state to Julia ’s she ’s turned Tzu ’s committal to writing against China , especially in regard to destroy an enemy from within . With some help from " respectable " man of affairs Chan and the triad , she claim to have done just that in nixing the barter deal .
The second is inThe prowess of War’sending , where Bly cite chapter 13 of Tzu ’s work . Bly refers to the " Doomed Spies " section , and how sacrificing an broker without their cognition can change state a fight in somebody ’s favor . Bly coldly states that befriend Shaw and gaining his confidence allowed him and Hooks to coif him up for the assassination and that by the time they ’re finish with Shaw , he ’d make " Lee Harvey Oswaldlook like a f – king boy scout ! "
Why Bly Betrayed His Team
WhenThe Art of Warbeginnings , Bly is depicted as the turkey of the team and Shaw ’s best brother . His " last " in the first act is never to the full convincing though , as it bump wholly offscreen and he ’s then never mentioned again , make the reveal of his deception underwhelming . irrespective , in a later tantrum with Hooks , Bly reveals he claim part in the blackwash plot not for the money or Hooks ' " correct - wing ideology , " but simply because he wanted to play Shaw and see if he would deliver the goods . While Bly get his indirect request in their concluding face-off , the outcome is n’t in his favour .
What Happened To Snipes' Shaw In The Art Of War Sequels
The picture was followed by 2008’sThe Art of War II : BetrayalandThe Art of War III : Retributionin 2009 . Despite the titles , they ’re technicallybothThe Art of War II . The third film stars Anthony " Treach " Criss as Shaw , who is on the spur of the moment back work with the UN . This moving picture was shot beforeThe Art of War II , but when Snipes agreed to return , Retributionwas shelved whileBetrayalwas rushed into product . Betrayalsees Shaw come out of hiding to avenge the death of his wise man " Mom , " which involves him working as a adviser on a Hollywood action picture show where the jumper lead actor is also range for senate .
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Art of War IIwas give rise on a lower budget and lacks the genius and vigor of the original . Snipes himself also feels checked out , and while the sequel has a nice twirl ending , it ’s too late to save it . The Art of War III : Retributiontakes Trench ’s Shaw to South Korea , which in the movie is on the wand of reuniting with North Korea . Many shootout and fistfights occur , and while it closes with Shaw wanting to step down his job ( again ) , he resolve against it . RetributionendedThe Art of Wartrilogy on a low note , though the original did n’t really require any sequel in the first place .








