I had never actually heard about this 1989 movie titled "Ninja Academy", prior to stumbling upon it by random chance here in 2023. And with it being a late 1980s movie with ninjas, and allegedly in the likes of the "Police Academy" movies, of course I had to sit down and watch it, as there is a certain charm to the cheese of the 1980s cinema.
Well, writer Jonathan D. Gift just didn't really manage to capture much of neither the essence or the campiness and cheese of the good old 1980s ninja movies, nor the comedy elements or fun of the "Police Academy" movies. And that made sitting through 92 minutes of it a bit of an ordeal, especially since I wasn't brought to laughter a single time throughout the course of the story.
The acting performances in "Ninja Academy" were actually fair. It wasn't a cast ensemble that had any particular familiar talents on the cast list, well aside from Gerald Okamura, of course.
For a comedy movie, then director Nico Mastorakis didn't deliver anything overly impressive. Sure, the movie could be watched for what it was, but it was hardly an outstanding or memorable movie experience. And this is definitely not a movie that I will ever return to watch a second time.
My rating of "Ninja Academy" lands on a generous three out of ten stars.
