American Ninja 4: The Annihilation

Michael Dudikoff, although not doing much acting, has more on screen presence in this movie. He's clearly evolved over this series as an actor, and has a leading man charisma to him in this movie.

Unfortunately the series didn't evolve with him, but devolved.

Seen one, seen em all characterizes this fourth installment of the American Ninja series. Producers might lose interest after the first few production, and they're only making it on inertia. Even a big franchise like the JAWS went the same route, so maybe we can't blame the producers too much.

The story is choppy, and doesn't flow smoothly. Trying to find a meaning in a movie like this is a futile effort, but I wished they kept producing the movie in a nicer looking locations as they did in part 2 of this series.

In part 4, the two American Ninjas, Joe Armstrong and Sean Davidson, team up to do battle against a terrorist and his band of Ninjas. It is always in people's nature to put down great things and to nitpick or sometimes just be plain mean. No matter what anyone says, this is utterly fantastic, an eye-popping cinematic treat. From an artistic standpoint, there were some plot elements and character developments I didn't think were totally needed. They do however drive the story, which seemed to be their purpose, so I can accept them. I am not saying the film is a classic, but I love it. My rating ends up being 7 out of 10.

Michael Dudikoff returns as Joe Armstrong, the original American Ninja (Who doesn't even show up until half way) who is forced into single handedly rescuing a delta force team as well as the other American Ninja(David Bradley) after the ninjas provide too much even for him. American Ninja 4 walks the fine line between guilty pleasure and just plain bad. There are moments of sheer stupidity that you just can't help but love the antics. For example the movie asks us to believe that an Arab terrorist would have ninjas guarding him. Or that a gang of Mad Maxish rebels couldn't overthrow the Arab terrorist and his minions until the American Ninja (The one played by Dudikoff) arrived plus the bad guy's army actually takes the time to try and arrest what looks to be a thousand rebel soldiers armed with machine guns and axes. The most ridiculous moment arises when Dudikoff catches an arrow in his mouth which he then uses to stab a ninja in the neck with. (Take that James Bond!) American Ninja 4 does have slightly more life in it's fight sequences than American Ninja 3 but really American Ninja 4 is a sub-par effort in all respects as the action sequences while competent are filmed with lack of inspiration and imagination. Still the movie has just way too many unintentionally amusing moments which almost (but not quite) save the day. American Ninja 4 also becomes a laugh riot due to some of the dialog handled with astonishing straight faced seriousness. For example the Arab terrorist and his sidekick James Booth are excited about the nuke that fits in a briefcase, to which the Arab actually activates it and lets it tick down to 1 second which then has the biggest howl of the movie. "It fills me with ecstasy to know that I was one minute from meeting Allah!" However he never elaborates if he means the drug or happiness in general. When Dudikoff finally blitzes the Arab's stranglehold, the Arab runs to the helicopter which leads to another howler of dialog. "Where we headed?" "MECCA!" It was classic moments like this made me enjoy the cheese of this bad ninja movie. Also of note is that Dudikoff and Booth (The best thespians in the movie) give performances of such contempt that is also vaguely amusing. The disinterested performances are still better than any other performance in the film. My wife who is a good sport, sat through this with me and said the funniest remark. "How lame of a ninja do you have to be to wear a bright yellow ninja suit."

*1/2 out of 4-(Poor)

After the abysmal American Ninja 3, it seemed all hope was lost for fans of low-budget martial arts movies starring white guys. But like a phoenix rising from the ashes, this film would see the return of the one and ONLY American Ninja: Michael Dudikoff. Unfortunately, he doesn't return until about halfway through it. Still, it's Dudikoff's last hurrah as Joe Armstrong so it's worth seeing for that alone. Steve James is absent, which is unfortunate. The movie doesn't have the same feel as the first two. But that was generally true of most Cannon films of the time. The heyday of Golan/Globus was gone and Cannon by 1990 was just another cheap production company. Is this movie worth checking out for anybody who isn't an American Ninja or Dudikoff completist? Probably not.

When you are living in poor eastern Europe town, you see things in different colours)) When I was kid, two things defined my interest for this Movie:

• Two American Ninjas in one film at the same time! Take 2!
• Ninjas of all colours! Take 5!
• New bad Ninja boss! Take 3! Now it's 10/10

It is really sad to see grown aged men giving American Ninja 4 low ratings and trash critics. Wake up, critic, you are no longer a kid. You can't see Magic no more. This movie is part of me. It's bad, who cares. It was.