Ninja

'Ninja' isn't a film to watch if you want ground-breaking, thought provoking cinema. However, if you're in the mood for a fast-paced action movie that features martial arts experts kicking the living daylights out of one another, look no further. It's very silly, very violent and at times comes across like a live-action version of a bloodthirsty anime, but it makes for an entertaining evening in front of the telly.

Originally released in 2009, it had the misfortune to come along around the same time as 'Ninja Assassin,' a similarly themed movie with a much bigger publicity budget. This may well have led people to dismiss 'Ninja' as a direct to video knock-off, but it's actually much better than that. This isn't a top level production by any means, but it is way more competent than the atrociously cheap movies that get churned out by Asylum Studios or the Sci-Fi channel. 'Ninja Assassin' is the superior film, but 'Ninja' is easy to recommend and well worth a watch.

The film focuses on Casey Bowman (played by the King of DTV action, Scott Adkins), a westerner raised in a Japanese Dojo. While on a trip to New York, Casey finds himself targeted by an evil secret society and a former rival turned Rogue Ninja. Soon he's fighting his way across the city, taking on gun-toting goons in order to safeguard a chest full of priceless heritage items. And it moves so quickly, there's no time to take a breath and notice how little sense the storyline makes. The secret society are trying to do something with the oil industry and the stock market, but it's not clear if they're a religious order, a cabal of financially motivated evil businessmen or just a band of heavily armed thugs with a taste for the theatrical. The script is hammy, the lead character gets surprisingly few lines and there's more than a faint whiff of cheese about the whole thing.

However, none of that really matters. The focus here is on the fight scenes and 'Ninja' delivers the goods. This is a movie where cars flip over and explode for no reason, limbs get severed and blood fountains from sword wounds in high arcs. Adkins is so adept at leaping into the air and kicking people in the head that the laws of gravity don't seem to apply and his climactic battle in the backstreets of New York is an adrenaline pumping finale.

So yes, it's daft popcorn munching fun. This is a B-movie flick that sets out to deliver an entertaining series of action set-pieces held together with a flimsy plot and it succeeds admirably. The few stabs at deeper mysticism are no more than the fast food equivalent of Eastern Philosophy, but if you want to see a man thrown out the window of a moving train and into the path of another train, 'Ninja' is your film.

The plot is pretty weak in this movie, and lacks a really intense story, despite trying so hard to be intense. It gets by on some incredible fights with Scott Adkins, and quite frankly, I bet I'm not alone when it comes to people watching this movie, simply because of Adkins. It starts off a little slowly in the first half. Tsuyoshi Ihara provides some great intensity, and some good villainy, but it lacked the proper excitement for me. Once the second half begins, things really begin to heat up. The action is so strong, you tend to block out the average story. If Adkins's subway fight sequence isn't enough for you, then Adkins's going completely ballistic in the finale, by making many martial artists look foolish will definitely hit the spot. This guy is incredible, and if given the chance, he could be the action star the genre has lacked since the heyday of the 80's action heroes. I wouldn't call it a great performance, but he acquits himself decently. If you're not blown away by some of Adkins's moves, I really question your judgment. His love story with Mika Hijii isn't anything groundbreaking, but it's moving enough. Speaking of Mika Hijii, she's far from a damsel in distress. Not only does this woman kick major ass, but she takes a beating like a champ. I cringed in some of those scenes, but she held her own big time. It's pretty violent, if you like that sort of thing. I personally like violence. The finale is a bit over the top with the dramatics, but it does the job

Final Thoughts: See it for some of the terrific action scenes. Scott Adkins won't let you down. As long as you keep in mind that it's not a great movie, you should be able to find mild enjoyment. I didn't mind it. I'm actually curious about the upcoming sequel

5.3/10

After getting Ninja DVD sent from my uncle in Russia, I decided to watch this movie. But since there was quite a bit Japanese language being spoken and DVD had no English subtitles, I decided to watch it with a friend who is good at Japanese and is an action movie fanatic.

Now I will say this movie is not perfect, but as a action movie, and Ninja movies fan, I was thoroughly entertained nonetheless. on par with Blood and Bone in terms of entertainment value, falling just a little bit short from Undisputed 2(8.5/10) due to some of its little faults. But despite its faults, I love this film and will be watching it time and time again (actually although I gave both of them same grade, I like this movie slightly better than Blood and Bone, because of my favoritism of Ninja movies ).

First let's get one thing straight! This is a genre movie. If you go into it thinking you are going to watch the Godfather then you are going to be disappointed. Scott Atkins delivers the goods big time as the hero ninja Casey further cementing him as a go to action guy. The moves this guy can do are out of this world. The story is pretty basic. An adopted American taken in and raised as a ninja. The fight scenes for the most part are beautifully done. Tsuyoshi Ihara is the real discovery of this movie. This guy should be getting some steady work. Now the bad stuff. The C.G.I. blood was cool in some parts, but over the top in others. The gliding with the wings could have been left out. The C.G.I. was a little over the top in the sword fights. I was also disappointed with the character Namiko. She was a little to frail for modern day women in action movies. Yes there are some cheesy lines, but that is part of the fun of these movies. The movie screams old school 80's movie, but in a good way. It ends up being a far superior film than Ninja Assassin and was made for a fraction of the cost. If you love action movies and hate the metro-sexual heroes that we get jammed down our throats every film then this is the movie for you. I hope we get to see more like this because this movie had my blood racing the entire time.

I have been wanting to see a new ninja movie (that's good) for a long time, and I was impatiently waiting for this one to be released, seeing that it's a Nu Image/Millennium film (they make above average direct-to-DVD movies) and that it was to be directed by action expert Isaac Florentine. And I was overall satisfied. Granted, I could list some flaws, such as the fact the Boaz Davidson screenplay contains elements that will be familiar to those who have seen other ninja movies in the past, and it has the hero on several occasions dragging the female lead behind him despite the fact she's an accomplished fighter like him. But there's a lot more to like. The movie is slickly made, well-photographed and lit, and the chosen Bulgarian locations manage to pass off as New York (believe it or not!) The fight scenes are pretty brutal and exciting, resulting in some great splatter (though I wish the blood and gore had not been mostly done with CGI). Yes, this movie is far from great art, but if you are looking for ninja action, this movie delivers.