The Shinobi Ninja

I really liked this movie. This is the only live action Japanese ninja film I've ever seen and I must say that I am quite impressed! I'm used to Chinese ninja movies which generally break new standards in awful film making (see Godfrey Ho ninja movies if you want a taste of that pie) so it was nice to see this Japanese ninja movie that is very competently directed, shot, and choreographed.

Even the story makes sense! It's about the Japanese government hiring martial arts masters from all over the world to try and take out the iga ninja clan. Our hero Ken, played by Tadashi Yamashita, is one of the last remaining ninja from the kaga ninja clan who were betrayed by the iga ninjas 400 years ago when the igas slaughtered the kagas in a horrible slaughter! Ken's father was angry about this event so he sent ken to America to learn additional training so one day he could take revenge!

There's lots of well choreographed fights that are really impressive. I've never heard of Yamashita before but he's definitely got skills. I especially like the scene where he uses nun chucks!! He only uses them for a brief clip but I must say it's some of the best nun chuck work i've ever seen! The plot moves steadily and the movie doesn't take itself too seriously. There's funky music, and it's funny. I like the part where a good guy is attacked by ninjas sliding through the snow on these cheap little red plastic toboggans.

If you like ninja movies at all you can't go wrong with The Shinobe Ninja! Really worth watching.

Tadashi Yamashita stars in this frankly interminable tale of an age old feud between the Iga Ryu and Koga Ryu ninja clans.

Poor martial arts choreography aplenty, some simply atrocious voice over work, a script that has ostensibly been written by a preschooler and a boring story to boot all aggregate to make this film pretty much unwatchable. I really did struggle to keep viewing until the end of this and believe me, I've seen some really crappy movies in my time!

I would have awarded the film a one star rating save for the fact that to be equitable, the proceedings do admittedly pick up a notch or two towards the end with some much better action/martial arts sequences that are backed by some super cool and groovy seventies music!

Still, even having said this, I really can't recommend this movie, unless of course that is, you're into a spot of cinematic masochism.

The film starts out well with great music, and video sequences of two Ninja fighting on a totally black background floor etc.

Unfortunately the body of the film is awful containing no Ninja fight scenes whatsoever - only thugs running around beating up on people with endless boring and badly dubbed dialogues.

The ending is accompanied by the wonderful music at the start and a fight scene between two 'ninja' in plain clothes. Sneakers etc. The fight itself is reasonable.

The ninja who dies at the end is none other than Hatsumi Masaki, one of only several living grandmasters of the Ninjutsu martial art.

Cheers, nazz..