[DVD Review (R2)] NINJA
When I was growing up in the 1980′s I loved martial arts movies. Be they JCVD movies, or American Ninja movies or No Retreat, No Surrender movies etc I would watch them all. And, for all the cheesy storylines and shoddy acting, I loved them. Even now, if there’s nothing else on TV, I’m more than happy to sit down and watch one.
So it was with quite a bit of pleasure I approached watching the DVD release of Ninja when the review disc landed on my doormat because, from the description of the movie to the trailer, this seemed like a 21st entry into the 80′s martial arts movie “genre” and I really hoped that I would enjoy it as much as my younger self enjoyed those 1980′s movies.
But did it live up to my hopes or was I left wishing for a throwing star of my own to hurl at my TV?
The Plot
The storyline of Ninja is at once simple and familiar to anyone who has seen movies like American Ninja and tells the tale of Casey, an American who has been raised by the last surviving descendant of the Koga Ninja Clan in Japan. Casey is one of the two top students at the dojo, only surpassed in skill by Masazuka. After a training session where Masauzuka tries to kill Casey, Masazuka is expelled from the dojo forever.
This devastates Masazuka, who thought that he would inherit the mystical Yoroi Bitsu, the last remaining artefacts of the Koga Clan, from the sensei.
A number of years pass, and Casey is nearing the ending of his training but suddenly Masazuka returns to the dojo during a presentation and threatens to take the Yoroi Bitsu by force.
Fearing Masazuka will fullfill his promise, as he has become a highly skilled assassin for hire by adapting the Ninja’s traditional weapons with 21st Century technology, Sensei sends Casey, Namiko his daughter and two other students to America to hide the Yoroi Bitsu from Masazuka.
But it’s not long before Masazuka is hot on their heels and it’s soon apparent that only a confrontation between the Masazuka and Casey will be able to save Casey & Namiko as well as the Yoroi Bitsu.
Review
While the plot of Ninja might not be exactly original, and does have quite a lot of cheesiness attached, I have to say that I did enjoy it quite a lot. There is something quite enjoyable about just sitting down and watching a movie that you don’t particularly have to think about too hard. It’s apparent from the opening moments of the movie in the dojo that the whole movie is going to centre around the conflict between Casey and Masazuka and the lines of good and evil are heavily drawn straight away.
Scott Adkins, who plays Casey, is totally convincing in the main role, as you would expect from someone who has trained in Tae Kwon Do and is a fully qualified kick boxer. What was more surprising was the fact that he isn’t a terrible actor either! I was half expecting him to be pretty wooden, but he really surprised me with his acting ability, which was a nice surprise and added to my enjoyment of the movie.
Likewise Tsuyoshi Ihara who plays Masazuka is very convincing in the role of the “bad guy”. Just like Scott Adkins he is very convincing during the action scenes, which is hardly surprising from someone who trained with the Sonny Chiba “Japan Action Club” but he is also obviously having a great deal of fun in the role of the villainous and murderous Masazuka.
As for the action scenes, they do not disappoint. There is a fantastic fight scene in a underground train carriage and a wonderful “full on” ninja battle at the dojo that are both brilliant and a number of other, smaller fights that all lead up to the final confrontation between Casey & Masazuka.And the movie doesn’t skimp on the gore either, with plenty of beheadings, and death to sate the more blood hungry viewers.
The director, Isaac Florentine, in no stranger to action movies, having directed Undisputed 2: Last Man Standing, The Shepard and…uh…some Power Rangers episodes (ok, forget that one) and this experience has certainly had an effect on Ninja as it is apparent that he knows full well what martial arts movie fans want to see and he does deliver on pretty much every level.
Ninja’s have been missing from cinema for a little while now but with this, and Ninja Assassin, it looks like we could be on course for a little renaissance of the genre and if they are all of the quality of Ninja then I will be very happy indeed.
Special Features
Making Of: This “making of” features plenty of behind the scenes footage of the filming and interviews with the main cast and the director. Unfortunately, it never really lifts it’s head above the normal “talking heads” making of’s that we are all used to seeing.
OK, so it’s not totally original, and it might even venture into slightly silly territory towards the end but I enjoyed every minute of it’s 90 minutes. If you are after a fun action movie that doesn’t require much thought then you could do much worse than watching this.
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