A sloppy, bastardized version of the novel.

I finished reading the book some days before I found out there was a movie. The book was an intriguing look at American politics, foreign policy and the way we handle relations with other countries. It was also an exciting detective novel. When I found out there was a movie, I picked it up and plugged it in. While I'm no purist, I understand things like time constraints and budget issues, I like a movie version of a book to adhere to the original plot as much as possible. Anyway, I'll come out and say that I think Snipes was horribly miscast(even Connery's performance was shockingly underwhelming). A) because he's black and B) because he's a martial artist(more on B later). Before I get flamed for racism, let me just say that I really like Wesley Snipes, he's a good actor, etc. However, his race changes the whole dynamic of the situation. In this instance, race is a key a factor. The Japanese frequently accuse characters in the book of being racist. I've never heard of a black cop being accused of racism. It was an unnecessary change which only provided a chance for some race comments. I wouldn't have had this problem at all, however, if the movie hadn't made it an issue by frequently seeking reasons to point it out and making it a relevant factor in the story. The "bruthas" in the hood scene was particularly stupid. I hate that I have to point out that I'm not a racist and that it's just in the context of the story that I'm taking issue with race, but there you go. That's my disclaimer. Now to B in why I think Snipes was miscast. He's a martial artist and you don't hire a martial artist and not use him. And they did. In an absolutely ridiculous manner. Near the completely altered end, there is a random karate fight between him and a bunch of thugs working for the Nakamoto Corp. This effectively changed it from a dumbed-down thriller into a dumbed-down action flick. I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that this happened earlier as well between Shang Tsung(I only call him that because Mr. Tagawa was awesome in this role) and a couple of Japanese thugs. Both were stupid, pointless fight scenes that were only included, I'm guessing, as an attempt to juice up an already shoddy production. Unfortunately, it was like adding nitrous boosters to a rusty jalopy. To begin with, it's a bad idea but when you actually hit the boosters, the speed rips the car apart. Anyway, I can't lay the blame entirely on Snipes, Connery or any other of the actors. Put simply, the script sucked and the execution was sloppy. It jumped around too much and skipped major issues present in the book in favor of nonsense via artistic license. So, long story short, I hate the movie.