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Rating: 2 out of 5
With a movie respectively, titled Ninja Assassin, you can probably expect some things that will be guaranteed. Obviously, ninjas and ninjas fighting each other with all kinds of weapons. What more could you think of? Maybe an assassination because the title does have assassin, but besides that, what more could you expect in a movie called Ninja Assassin?
While watching, the expectations of this film weren’t too high, and did it deliver? Nope! Ummm, let’s back up. If you want a movie with ninjas fighting each other, extreme violence, weapons galore with blood and gore that would even make Rambo blush, then this is the film. This is where the film delivers. Not for the storyline or acting but the violence and action scenes. That’s the only reason I sat down and watched this film.
Directed by James McTeigue (V for Vendetta) while being produced by the Wachowski (the Matrix trilogy). Ninja Assassin gives the world a film where training to be an elite ninja looks like a massive pain in the ass. A bloody movie that shows some of the most intense fighting scenes, where limbs will fall and blood will splatter the walls and swords.
The storyline of this “amazing” film isn’t too complicated. The story follows Raizo (Rain), who is raised by the Ozunu Clan to become one of the deadliest assassins in the world. The story jumps back and forth with flashbacks. We see that at a very young age (probably no more than seven years old), Raizo begins his training under the strict “father,” Lord Ozunu (Kosugi). With other orphans, Lord Ozunu doesn’t believe in weakness and failure. While training Raizo, he is repeatedly whipped and/or cut whenever he fails and is ordered to hurt his fellow ninja warriors when they fail. Raizo manages to find peace in a girl who he has fallen for, but she is killed by his master and “brother.” After completing his first assassination, Raizo decides to go, rogue, choosing to bring down the family he once served. During his mission, he gains help from Interpol agent Mika Coretti (Harris), who is also investigating the world of the ninja hitmen.
This film falls short with the plot mainly. With the title of Ninja Assassin, what could you expect? The plot is so thin and unentertaining. The plot makes it a little hard to follow as the film jumps back and forth between the present and flashbacks. Raizo gets sliced in the stomach by a sword, and then we jump to when he was a kid and almost see the same thing. That is the whole film, jumping back and forth between the action scene and then the training scene.
You would think that the characters would be able to carry some of this film, but even they fail with whatever acting they were doing. Rain doesn’t seem to talk until he meets Harris, and even then, that seems forced. Harris appears to be trying her best but seems to be overacting for a movie this bad. She could’ve brought her C-game and still would’ve been fine.
Where this film pretty much does all its damage and great work is with its action scenes. With a movie having an R rating, it might as well go balls to the wall with the action, blood, and guts. There is plenty of swordplay, limbs being chopped off and blood splattering all over the place to make any action person nod in approval. The scene where Raizo fights pretty much everyone in the warehouse as he swings around his kyoketsu-shoge is completely insane. Limbs fly when he has that weapon.
Ninja Assassin is more of a comic book and video game movie than an actual work of art. The film isn’t great, but if you want something pure of action and you don’t mind the blood and violence, then this movie is for you.
