What is it good for? Well, not quite absolutely nothing, but...

The teaming of action stars Jet Li and Jason Statham may raise audience expectations for a lean, mean ass-kicking machine, but War turns out to be a flabby and formulaic programmer. Early scenes appear to promise a clever commingling of elements from Dashiell Hammett’s Red Harvest (by way of Akira Kurosawa’s Yojimbo) with Michael Cimino’s disreputably rousing Year of the Dragon. But the flick quickly devolves into a standard-issue crime drama laced with routine martial artistry.

You can read my full Variety review here.

John Lone: M.I.A.?

That's Jason Stratham (left), Mathew St. Patrick (center) -- and John Lone (right) in War

The lovely and talented Nikki Finke says we can expect another weekend at No. 1 for Superbad -- and a debut "in the high teens" for War, good enough for the No. 2 spot. But here's the odd part: I didn't realize until just a couple hours ago that John Lone -- yes, that John Lone, star of The Last Emperor (1987) -- plays a supporting role in the latter film. Prior to War, he last appeared on U.S. screens in Rush Hour 2 (2001) -- and that was his first major movie gig since The Hunted (1995). Now, I know he pops up in Asian movies now and then -- but even those credits are few and far between. And War looks like it could be major-league kick-ass fun, but still...

I guess what I'm asking is: Jeez, happened to that career? In movies as diverse as Year of the Dragon (1985), The Moderns (1988) and, of course, Last Emperor, Lone had screen presence potent enough to power a mid-size city. Did he just piss off the wrong people, or what?