Ninja Assassin: Review By kyle_hannah

Ninja Assassin is about as subtle as it's title, what's next Samurai Warrior? Sheriff Cowboy? The lack of creativity in the title alone will give you a sense of what the rest of the film will have in store for you. Ninja Assassin has little to no plot, it revolves around an assassin portrayed by asian sensation Rain who through flashbacks is revealed to be a former prodigy of a harsh and cruel ninja clan, and after being forced to commit atrocities to innocent people he turns on them. The clan pursues Rain as he tries to protect a young woman (Naomie Harris-28 Days Later) who along with her government friend is attempting to bring the hidden ninja clan into the public eye.

The movie seems to adopt an over the top spoof style in the vein of films like Crank: High Voltage or Shoot Em Up but then changes it's tone to a serious action/drama while still having the over the top action. Whether they were going for spoof film or compelling action film neither one worked because neither one is clear. I am leaning towards it being a failed attempt at serious drama.

The Film's cast is full of little known or character actors like Rain who portrays Raizo. Raizo is a skilled ninja who rarely speaks, and just tries to emit badassnes through facial expressions. Thanks to his incredible body he succeeds as a convincing hero. Naomie Harris of 28 Days Later and Pirates Of The Caribbean fame plays Mika. She's convincing as a reluctant damsel in distress who finds her inner strength but sadly that's as deep as her character gets. The highlight is definatly Randall Duk Kim as the cruel, heartless Master of the clan. Just to look at him makes you feel like he could kill you with his pinky finger. The few lines this man has is nothing compared to the aura of sheer dominance he gives off from facial expressions alone. It is truly a great performance even if his character is a total cliche.

Speaking of cliches this film is too full of them and if it were a send up of it's genre that would be ok. Since it's trying to be a serious Ninja film the cliches are annoying and just laughable. It's all here the reluctant hero, the damsell in distress, the final battle with the former master, it's far too predictable almost as if it just stole characters from old Jet Li films. The characters are essentially depthless except for Raizo whose backstory is more interesting then the actual film's plot. Mika and even the Master are cut and paste character's from kung fu films with little motive or backstory themselves.

The movie does have lots of action but it tries to be badass action but just comes off as cheesy. It so desperatley wants to be the ninja equivalent of 300. From the lighting, to the slow mo ,quick zoom action scenes, right up to the downright blatant scene theft. There is a scene in Ninja Assassin where two ninja children are training, young Raizo's face is the only thing in frame, and in slow mo he repeatedly punches the other boy's face with the slow mo blood slpattering all over him. The scene is a direct rip off of the 300 scene where young Leonidas destroys another boys face in a training sequence. There is a lot of over the top choreography which is suitable for a kung fu/ninja film, but when buckets (and i mean buckets) of the fakest looking CG blood pour out of the wounds Raizo inflicts it's just plain laughable no matter how much slow mo and hard rock guitar get's thrown into the scene. The action is in a word lame.

The director of V For Vendetta has taken a huge step down in his quest to bring back the Ninja movie. It's not a compelling drama and it's not even a fun popcorn action movie. Ninja Assassin is just moderatley entertaining which to be completely honest is even a stretch. If you expect a Kill Bill style splatter-fest, genre spoof you won't be satisfied, if you expect Last Samurai compeling, epic action/drama you won't be satisfied. Ninja Assassin is a mix between the two and in the end is just an underwhelming film in general.