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Jet Li and Jason Statham go to ‘War’ in the new action thriller by first-time feature director Phillip G. Atwell. Or at least that’s what the movie’s trailer would have you believe. But I tallied the number of scenes the two actors are in together and the total is two. So what’s the movie really about? You got me. If only cliches were the film’s biggest problem. War throws at you a confusing and ultimately uninteresting plot with an unforeseeable twist at the end, which I must admit was a little cool. But the conclusion doesn’t compensate for the unpleasantness of the other 80 minutes of the movie.

The plot I’m about to describe is not really the plot at all but rather the plot the film would have you believe up until the twist at the end. Jason Statham plays FBI agent Jack Crawford and War opens with a stakeout seen at a port with Crawford and his partner Tom Lone (Terry Chen). They are tracking a legendary Asian assassin known as ‘Rogue,’ played by Jet Li. We never get to see Rogue’s face and for a reason. Lone puts a bullet into Rogue’s face as he falls into the water and is presumed to be dead.

It appears that is not the case. Rogue uses a signature titanium bullet as a calling card. So when Crawford finds that Lone and his family have been killed and their house burned to the ground, he stumbles upon one of those bullets. Crawford develops an obsession with capturing Rogue and as a consequence loses his family. Three years later, Rogue strikes again and the case reopens.

The film now begins to focus on something bigger than a feud between two men but rather a feud between two clans: the Japanese Yakuza and the Chinese Triads. It seems that ‘Rogue’ is trying to start a war by assassinating high members of each clan. We don’t know who’s side he is on, if any side. Why is he doing this? What’s his goal? Well, to explain that would spoil the whole movie, which would probably be the decent thing to do to help you save your money.

War is just a minefield of plot holes and even that somewhat neat twist doesn’t even cover all the bases. Then there’s the situation with Crawford’s investigation. He seems to be making progress without reason. How is he figuring things out without the clues? And why isn’t he pressured by his superiors? He’s breaking dozens of rules, including holding a gun to a cop’s head and yet no heat is coming down on him. Oh, and the very end of the film is so rushed it forgets to tie everything up.

The action scenes are overcooked and are there just to spill blood and break necks. There’s also very little pay off. We came to see Jet Li and Jason Statham beat the living crap out of each other and yet we only get one little fight scene at the end. It’s just disappointing. Along with those action scenes are excessive profanity and it has have the incredibly hot naked chick just to make the guys feel like they didn’t waste their money. I’ll admit they succeeded with that just a little bit.

The elements of War are the stuff B movies are made of. With a 103 minute running time it even overstays its welcome by about 15 minutes. The bottom line is if you go see War, you’ll end up losing.