Line #30 Film/TheArtOfWar


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/850990a480f3f92b9270db02d37211fd.jpg]]
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3	->''If you were looking for the epic Chinese book about war strategy, [[Literature/TheArtOfWarSunTzu go here]].''
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5	''The Art of War'' is a 2000 action film directed by Creator/ChristianDuguay, starring Creator/WesleySnipes, Creator/AnneArcher, Creator/MichaelBiehn, and Creator/DonaldSutherland.
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7	Neil Shaw (Snipes) is a covert operative assigned to the United Nations, who is apparently framed for a high-profile assassination by his employers.
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9	It was followed by two DirectToVideo sequels, the last of which did not feature Snipes.
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11	----
12	!!''The Art of War'' provides examples of:
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14	* AllPartOfTheShow: The guests at David Chan's [=Y2K=] rooftop bash think Shaw fighting Chan's henchman is part of the festivities and get excited when a body camera is activated to be shown on the big screen during the fisticuffs.
15	* AloneWithThePsycho: Julia is trapped at the end inside the UN Building, [[spoiler: first alone with Eleanor Hooks, who lets her walk out, only to be stalked by Bly.]]
16	* AssassinsAreAlwaysBetrayed: Shaw is an assassin/covert agent for the UN, who has to uncover an international conspiracy after being set up [[spoiler: by his employer and his teammate.]]
17	* BackwardsFiringGun: An improvised version occurs during a GunStruggle, with the protagonist jamming the barrel of TheDragon's pistol against a marble floor and forcing him to fire, causing part of the slide to fly back into his face from the confined gunshot.
18	** Actually this is an AvertedTrope. There's a scene where Bly throws his gun at Shaw, and the slide is still attached (but the end of the suppressor is mangled); Bly got hit by pieces of the floor.
19	* BattleInTheRain: [[InvertedTrope Well, it's a fight in a building and it's raining ''outside.'']]
20	* BluntYes: When we first meet Capella, he's without a stir straw for his hot coffee, so he swirls around the sugar with his finger.
21	-->'''Ray''': Doesn't that hurt?
22	-->'''Capella''': Yeah. keeps swirling
23	* BondColdOpen: The movie starts with Shaw and his team working on an assignment covering David Chan. Like [[Film/TheWorldIsNotEnough the actual Bond movie that opened the year before]], the cold open ends with Shaw falling a long way and taking a shoulder injury that plays an important role in the plot.
24	* BoomHeadshot: [[spoiler: Ambassador Wu, David Chan, Anna's mother, the Triad who killed Jenna, and Eleanor Hooks]] are all executed in this manner.
25	* BulletTime: The climactic shootout slows down for a moment to show a bullet whizzing just by Shaw's knee.
26	* CallBack: Shaw's chase of [[spoiler: David Chan's]] assassin takes the exact same path as the one earlier in the movie when he was chasing Ambassador Wu's assassin, complete with flashbacks. This turns out not to be a coincidence.
27	* ConvenientlyEmptyBuilding: The U.N. building is apparently manned by one security guard. There's an attempted handwave briefly by the villains about clearing the building with a security drill, but neither that nor the patrol are seen.
28	* DeliveryGuyInfiltration: There's a BaitAndSwitch when Wesley Snipes appears to be using Marie Matiko's character to infiltrate a Triad brothel, which is hidden behind a FrontOrganisation of a restaurant. Instead he handcuffs her to the steering wheel, grabs a crate of groceries which are being unloaded from a truck, and walks in that way.
29	* EmergencyStash: Neil Shaw accessed an emergency stash of weapons and tools. It was hidden behind a mirror in the apartment of the one comrade who didn't betray him.
30	* TheEndOrIsIt?: Shaw [[spoiler: fakes his death]] and escapes to France, only to have his picture taken as he walks off arm-in-arm with Julia, by the same man who took the blackmail photos earlier.
31	* FakeAssassination: {{ZigZagged\|Trope}}. The film first appears to play this straight, by having David Chan arrange a fake assassination attempt on himself, at a UN summit, during which he takes a bullet in his arm. But it's later revealed that, [[spoiler: 1.) Chan wasn't the actual target, it was Chinese ambassador, Chin Xi Wu. The only reason Chan was shot, was to make it appear they were both being targeted. 2.) The shot that hit Chan was fake. When Shaw corners him, and removes the bandage, there wasn't a wound. 3.) Then Chan gets KilledOffForReal, seconds later, by the assassin he hired: Shaw's former teammate, Bly.]]
32	* FakingTheDead: When the Triads spring Shaw to frame him by disabling and flipping the police van, they shoot a prone Capella (whose eyes then close) to make sure he's dead. When they drive off, Capella climbs out of the wreckage and unbuttons his shirt to reveal a bulletproof vest. At the end of the movie, [[spoiler: Capella helps fake Shaw's death so he can go off-the-grid with Julia in France.]]
33	* FriendlyEnemy: Every time Capella and Shaw cross paths, their tones are rather pleasant as opposed to one of an agent and a man wanted for an international incident. Mainly because Capella is a DeadpanSnarker and Shaw is a good guy.
34	* GambitPileup: [[spoiler: Chan and his triad allies wanted to kill Wu and derail the U.S.-China trade agreement so he could maintain his monopoly on business operations in China. Hooks was working with him, but was actually planning to betray and kill him, implicating the U.N. in the deaths of both Wu and Chan in order to discredit the U.N. and return America to a more nationalist, anti-globalist policy.]]
35	* GunKata: The film had a similar style fight in an empty hallway. A certain amount of respect and honor was loaded into the scene, as when they ran out of bullets, they went back to back and talked while casually reloading. Shaw and TheDragon spend most of the fight throwing snapshots... panic firing. It's more like GunFu since they still use acrobatic dodging.
36	* IKnowYoureWatchingMe: After being arrested and left alone in an interrogation room, Shaw raps suddenly on the glass, startling Julia who's been called in to identify him, and causing Capella to spill his coffee.
37	* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: One of the Triad mooks gets a ''steel beam'', through his face and before that, another got a rifle barrel through his [[EyeScream eye]]. [[spoiler: Then Bly gets impaled on a giant shard of glass, neck-first!]]
38	* ImpersonatingAnOfficer: Shaw is checking out a Triad hangout when the police raid it. He apparently evades them, but a black FBI agent starts moving in the same direction he did, gun at the ready. Later one of the perps is getting in the face of several officers when that same agent appears, slams the man's head into the table, then hauls him outside to the amusement of the officers. It turns out to be Wes wearing the FBI man's cap and raid jacket.
39	* ImprobableAimingSkills: Shaw is able to shoot the shaft of Capella's umbrella while hiding offscreen at an unknown distance.
40	* ImpromptuTracheotomy: [[spoiler: Bly's death via glass shard.]] It's as horrifying as you may think, but a perfect death for a traitor.
41	* {{Irony}}: David Chan sports a bandage on his arm where he was shot during the assassination of Ambassador Wu; [[spoiler: when Shaw rips it off to expose the lack of a wound underneath, a sniper then shoots Chan right where the original "wound" would have been, followed by a headshot.]]
42	* InspectorJavert: Agent Capella on the trail of Shaw.
43	* LaserGuidedKarma: [[spoiler: Eleanor Hooks's death at the hands of the Triad, right after gloating to Shaw everything that she's responsible for is easily pinned on them.]]
44	* MoleInCharge: [[spoiler: Hooks is the leader of the U.N.'s extralegal black ops, an extremely sensitive position seemingly charged with increasing the U.N.'s power through questionably legal means, while actually being a member of a group of nationalist American power brokers who want to discredit the U.N. and return to one nation politics.]]
45	* NeckSnap: Shaw does this to an assassin in the hospital and Bly does it ''one-handed'' to a guard.
46	* NeverFoundTheBody: A big tip-off that [[spoiler: Robert Bly]] is TheMole is the chase scene with [[spoiler: Bly and "the assassin" takes place off-screen and over the radio, and no sight of Bly's body when he's "killed".]]
47	* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: A villainous version as the Triads track down Shaw's partner Jenna and brutally beat her to death. Shaw immediately pays her killer in kind.
48	* NotMyDriver: [[spoiler: Hooks's limo driver is not her driver, but rather a Triad member who executes her right then and there.]]
49	* OhCrap: Shaw stumbles onto a tracking device that makes him realize [[spoiler: he's the one who's been bugged the whole time, and immediately connects the dots that Bly re-injured his shoulder during the pickup game so the doctor could place the tracker in the wound. Cue Bly's arrival.]]
50	-->[[spoiler: '''Robert Bly''']]: How does it feel to be a puppet without the strings!
51	* OneBulletLeft: During the climax, Shaw and the villain grapple with a gun at close range, so Shaw manages to eject the magazine to protect himself. However, [[spoiler: Robert Bly]] sneers that "there's still one left in the chamber."
52	* PrettyLittleHeadshots: Played straight with Ambassador Wu, Anna's mother, and [[spoiler: David Chan]], averted with [[spoiler: Eleanor Hooks]], whose brain matter ends up on the window.
53	* RewindReplayRepeat: When Julia is in the diner getting food, Shaw spots someone dropping a bag into a trash can. He replays it in his mind to confirm it, realizes it's a bomb, and crashes into the diner to dispose of it. Later, Shaw and Julia watch the footage of Ambassador Wu's assassination and notice that [[spoiler: David Chan]] looks up in the direction of the shooter just before the gunfire occurs.
54	* ShamefulStrip: As they drive, Shaw tells Julia that she must have a TrackingDevice on her, and makes her strip to her panties and throw her clothes, watch and glasses out the car window.
55	* TapOnTheHead: [[spoiler: Robert Bly]] to Julia during the climax.
56	* ThoseTwoGuys: FBI agents Frank Capella and Ray, who continuously canvas the previous scenes in Shaw's wake.
57	* TrackingDevice: Shaw suspects Julia has a tracking device on her clothes and [[FanService makes her take it all off]] and throw the clothes out the window of their car. [[ShamefulStrip Needless to say she is not happy]]. Later Shaw finds a tracking sensor and realises ''he'' is the one who has the tracking device [[spoiler:implanted under his skin by a doctor working in league with TheMole, who 'accidentally' injured him during a basketball game.]]
58	* TreacheryCoverUp: Shaw is set up for the murder of the Chinese ambassador in the middle of US-China trade talks. After finding out that [[spoiler:a UN Liason/Covert Mission Control]] who was involved in the talks is the mastermind, he reveals the truth to the [[TheTriadsAndTheTongs Triads]]. She is murdered by a member of the Triads and is lauded as a hero, who gave her life to ensure the success of US-China trade relations. Of course, this also serves as a big "fuck you" to her, as she was secretly working on sabotaging the talks.
59	* TurnOfTheMillennium: The story starts on New Year's Eve 1999.
60	* TwoGuysAndAGirl: The U.N.'s secret-ops team of Shaw, Bly, and Jenna Novak.
61	* UndersideRide: Happens near the end, when Shaw escapes from a group of assassins by lying flat in the road, seemingly to [[LookBothWays avoid being hit by an oncoming truck]]. When it passes, he's [[VehicleVanish nowhere to be seen]], until it's revealed he escaped by grabbing on to the undercarriage.
62	* UnitedNationsIsASuperpower: Neil Shaw is an agent working for a United Nations black ops team that uses espionage, assassination, and other quasi-ethical methods to ensure cooperation from problematic nations. Played with in that it's made clear several points throughout the film that Shaw and his team are essentially mercenaries with no official mandate, and that the U.N. ''doesn't'' actually have the authority to do any of the things it does in the film. The Secretary General even notes that if the trade agreement goes through under the U.N.'s auspices instead of the Americans', it may finally allow the U.N. to become a world power (which is implied to be what happens in the end of the film).
63	* VomitDiscretionShot: When the FBI comes across a shipping container full of dead refugees, Capella's partner turns to hurl on the pavement, and the camera thankfully pans to an overhead shot.
64	* WeNeedADistraction: The BigBad ensures the building is empty by announcing a fake motion detector test, causing all security to leave the affected areas except the poor sap in the monitor room.
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66	!!''The Art of War II: Betrayal'' contains examples of:
67	* BatmanGambit: In the final scene, Shaw shoots [[spoiler:Melina/Susan]] dead, then drops the gun and walks away. [[spoiler:Garrett]] then picks up the gun and tries to shoot Shaw, only to find that there are no more bullets left, thereby incriminating himself for the murder.
68	* {{BFG}}: The L-900 battle rifle, which fires depleted uranium rounds that are capable of blowing up ''tanks''. Strangely, though, despite being repeatedly referred to as a "battle rifle" the weapon itself is actually fairly small, more resembling a larger automatic pistol and held one-handed.
69	* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Julia doesn't appear or even get mentioned at any point in the film.
70	* HalfwayPlotSwitch: The film starts out as Shaw investigating the death of his mentor, but near the end of the first act switches to his protecting some senators from a terrorist organization. His mentor's death does become important again in the ending, though.
71	* IHaveManyNames: Creator/{{Athena Karkanis}}'s character is initially introduced as "Melina," but near the end of the film we find out that her real name is Susan Marsden. Then, just to really confuse things, she's credited as "Heather" in the end credits despite no-one ever referring to her by that name in the film.
72	* KickTheSonOfABitch: [[spoiler:Sallas]] gets something of a CruelAndUnusualDeath, whereby Shaw shoots him in the chest, then shoots him in both kneecaps, and then as he's leaving the room shoots the L-900, causing it to fire upwards and bring down the entire ceiling, finishing [[spoiler:Sallas]] off.
73	* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: Oddly enough, downplayed somewhat when Sallas uses the L-900 to execute a [[TheMole mole]]; while the gun does mess his body up pretty badly, leaving his torso looking like a piece of carbonized Swiss cheese, considering what we see elsewhere the guy should have been blown into a million little bits.
74	* UnwittingPawn: [[spoiler: Shaw's love interest turns out to have been a professional double agent who arranged Mother's death and manipulated Shaw in order to fool him into doing the [[BigBad Big Bad's]] dirty work. She and the Big Bad then reveal the truth to him in a WeCanRuleTogether moment. Shaw is understandably cross and coldly executes her and frames the Big Bad for it.]]
75	* YouKilledMyFather: Or the closest thing Shaw had to a father, anyway. The death of his mentor spurs Shaw into getting involved with the plot.
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77	!!''The Art of War III: Retribution'' contains examples of:
78	* ArtisticLicenseMilitary: Two of the film's main plotlines are North Korea and South Korea being on the verge of peaceful reunification, but the North Korean government apparently wanting to buy nuclear weapons. In reality, the former happening in anything like the way the film depicts it is absurdly improbable, and North Korea already had the ability to produce its own nuclear weapons even when the film was being made.
79	* CharacterShilling: In the ending, the Secretary-General gives a speech about what a brilliant agent Shaw is, for saving her from being assassinated by a terrorist. A terrorist, by the way, who was only able to even threaten her life in the first place thanks to Shaw ''himself'', and would otherwise have probably never even gotten through the front doors of the UN building.
80	* KarmaHoudini: By the end of the film, the only thing that Shaw has accomplished is knocking out the BigBad, while committing ''many'' colossal fuck-ups including [[spoiler:murdering a bunch of South Korean intelligence agents who were just doing their jobs, unwittingly letting said Big Bad tag along with him, and thereby giving her the opportunity to assassinate the South Korean ambassador]]. The Secretary-General still gives a speech about how vital Shaw is to the security of the UN.
81	* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: Taken to ridiculous levels in the film's various fight scenes, eventually culminating in Shaw and [[spoiler:Kim]] having a gunfight with [[spoiler:Sun Yi]] in the Secretary-General's office, where they're separated by just ten feet and a couple of couches. [[spoiler:Kim]] is the only person who actually ends up getting killed, and it eventually takes [[spoiler:Jason distracting Sun Yi for Shaw to finally incapacitate her]].
82	* NonIndicativeName: The film's title, given that nothing in the film ever suggests that Shaw is seeking revenge for anything. In fact, the titles of the two sequels would actually make more sense if they were swapped around, given that in the second film Shaw is investigating the death of his mentor, and in this film Shaw [[spoiler:gets betrayed by Sun Yi]].
83	* PutOnABus: Unlike the second film, this one actually explains Julia's absence, saying that she broke up with Shaw after he decided to return to working for the United Nations.
84	* TheReveal: Throughout most of the film, Kim is presented as the main antagonist. As it actually turns out, [[spoiler:he was a United Nations investigator working with South Korean intelligence to capture the arms dealers who were trying to sell nuclear weapons to North Korea]]. Though this does have the ''slight'' side-effect of meaning that all that Shaw managed to accomplish in the film was [[spoiler:totally screw up Kim's operation and slaughter a dozen or so South Korean intelligence agents and police officers]].
85	* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: In the film's opening sequence, Shaw assassinates an arms dealer by throwing a bomb through his car window, then stabs a would-be suicide bomber to death. Despite this all taking place in front of a busy hotel in downtown Los Angeles, ''no-one at all notices any of this''.
86	* UnwittingPawn: Shaw, ''big-time''. He gets easily taken in by [[spoiler:Sun Yi]]'s act, eventually culminating in his unwittingly allowing her to [[spoiler:assassinate the South Korean ambassador and very nearly the Secretary-General herself]].

Context Film / TheArtOfWar