It's Asian mob rivals Triad and Yakuza duking it out in the explosive -- if somewhat inscrutable -- new action film, War.

Jason Statham and Jet Li star in this tale of betrayal and revenge, with Statham as an FBI agent and Li playing a legendary assassin known as Rogue. So skilled is Rogue at the killing game that many think he's just an urban legend.

Who could kill so many? So skillfully? So silently? Two billion bullets later, you'll be a believer.

War begins with two cops caught in some sort of turf war unfolding on a burning wharf. Bodies are strewn everywhere. (Sound effects: blam! blam! blam! blam, blam! blam! blam! blam! blam!!! -- well, you get the picture.)

Then tragedy comes to call, and Statham's FBI character finds himself alone and obsessed with revenge. He prowls San Francisco in the hope of finding (and killing) the elusive Rogue -- payback for what Rogue has done to him.

Rogue, meanwhile, zooms around in a fancy car, not even bothering to parallel park when he stops to kill all manner of mobsters.

The Yakuza think he works for them. The Triad think he works for them. Rogue, however, works for nobody but himself, and he has his own axe to grind. It's a sharp one.

The pile of dead Asian hoodlums grows bigger and bigger, some shot, some blown up, some chopped up, some run through with swords. At one point, Li has to kill a whole restaurant and everyone in it. So many to kill, so little time.

Once War starts, it never flags, although some of the action scenes seem to have been lit and edited in full obfuscate-erama. The film is gleefully violent, with terrific chase scenes and complicated fight sequences (courtesy of stunt choreographer Cory Yuen), all of it intense and gripping but none of it enough to offset the crappy dialogue. Oh, well.

Li is the coolest as the deadpan killer, Rogue -- the role was written specifically for him --and Statham is suitably tough as his nemesis.

They're in good company here, as the cast includes John Lone, Ryo Ishibashi, Devon Aoki, Luis Guzman and even Saul Rubinek in a cameo as a plastic surgeon.

Director Philip Atwell, meanwhile, is best known for the music videos he has helmed for such artists as Tupac and 50 Cent, which may account for his taste in speedy pacing, slice and dice editing, and bullets.

(This film is rated 18-A)
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