War review

Can a bullet-strewn, fist-flying mash-up between Asian legend Jet Li and top Brit-brawler Jason Statham really be that bad? Well, when it’s in the heat of battle, War mostly delivers. The trouble starts when it tries to build a story around the scraps (choreographed by fight-flick veteran Corey Yuen). In gangland USA, there’s an epic power struggle going on between Chinese Triads and Japanese Yakuza; working for both crime clans is “Rogue” (Li), the mysterious hitman who killed the partner of Statham’s revenge-driven FBI guy. Whenever the adrenaline flags, cracks appear – the dialogue flipping between nail-gargling growls (Statham) and bald exposition (um, everyone else). Like its leading men, War’s got a few handy moves up its sleeve, but when the dust-ups clear it emerges underwritten and over-cranked.