Film review: '3 Ninjas: High Noon'
Rocky, Colt and Tum Tum, a k a the "3 Ninjas", return for a fourth round of pint-sized chop-socky action in "3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain."
Well, at least the characters are back. The lineup of young actors portraying them has been recast a couple times since the mildly successful franchise bowed in 1992, having outgrown their parts.
Perhaps the producers should have followed their cue. Easily the least of the "3 Ninja" lot, the latest installment opts for uninspired "Home Alone" broad strokes without the spiritual "Karate Kid" charm of its predecessors.
Obviously hoping to kick up a little Easter weekend business, the picture's theatrical release will at best serve as a calling card for its imminent video arrival, where star recruits Hulk Hogan, Loni Anderson and Jim Varney might have a little more clout.
Celebrating kid brother Tum Tum's (James Paul Roeske II) birthday, Rocky Douglas (Mathew Paul Botuchis) and Colt Douglas Michael J. O'Laskey II) are looking forward to spending the day at Mega Mountain amusement park, where TV superhero Dave Dragon (Hulk Hogan) is presenting a live, farewell version of his just-canceled TV show.
But their plans are altered when bad ninjas descend on the park, led by the severely evil Medusa (Anderson) and her ace henchman Lothar (Varney), who hold patrons hostage by patching into the Mega Mountain electrical system, leaving ridegoers in midswoop.
Unless park owner Harry Jacobson (Pat Mahoney) makes a helicopter drop of $10 million in cold, hard cash, Medusa threatens to blow everything up. Leave it to the 3 Ninjas, with a little technical assistance from new neighbor Amanda (Chelsey Earlywine), to save the day and Dragon's career.
While we were never talking high art here, the "3 Ninjas" series started out with a winning blend of action, slapstick and gentle moralizing.
This time around, director Sean Patrick McNamara, who co-wrote the script with Jeff Phillips, dumbs down the material even by comic book standards.
As for the cast, Hogan manages to look wearily heroic, while it's a draw between Anderson and Varney as to who's the most scary-looking. The new batch of Ninjas is fine, especially young, real-life black-belt Roeske, who may be a little shaky in the line-reading department, but is a blast offing all the bad guys. The lone holdover from previous editions, Victor Wong, makes a couple of brief appearances as the all-knowing Grandpa Mori.
The production is a model of cost-effective efficiency, but a little more generosity in the imagination department was required to bring this "3 Ninjas" up to code.
3 NINJAS: HIGH NOON AT MEGA MOUNTAIN
Sony Releasing
TriStar Pictures
Director: Sean Patrick McNamara
Screenwriters: Sean Patrick McNamara,
Jeff Phillips
Executive producers: Simon Sheen, Arthur Leeds
Producers: James Kang, Yoram Ben-Ami
Director of photography: Blake T. Evans
Production designer: Chuck Connor
Editor: Annamaria Szanto
Costume designer: Miye Matsumoto
Music: John Coda
Color/stereo
Cast:
Dave Dragon: Hulk Hogan
Medusa: Loni Anderson
Lothar: Jim Varney
Rocky Douglas: Mathew Paul Botuchis
Colt Douglas: Michael J. O'Laskey II
Tum Tum Douglas: James Paul Roeske II
Grandpa Mori: Victor Wong
Amanda Morgan-Green: Chelsey Earlywine
Running time -- 98 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
Well, at least the characters are back. The lineup of young actors portraying them has been recast a couple times since the mildly successful franchise bowed in 1992, having outgrown their parts.
Perhaps the producers should have followed their cue. Easily the least of the "3 Ninja" lot, the latest installment opts for uninspired "Home Alone" broad strokes without the spiritual "Karate Kid" charm of its predecessors.
Obviously hoping to kick up a little Easter weekend business, the picture's theatrical release will at best serve as a calling card for its imminent video arrival, where star recruits Hulk Hogan, Loni Anderson and Jim Varney might have a little more clout.
Celebrating kid brother Tum Tum's (James Paul Roeske II) birthday, Rocky Douglas (Mathew Paul Botuchis) and Colt Douglas Michael J. O'Laskey II) are looking forward to spending the day at Mega Mountain amusement park, where TV superhero Dave Dragon (Hulk Hogan) is presenting a live, farewell version of his just-canceled TV show.
But their plans are altered when bad ninjas descend on the park, led by the severely evil Medusa (Anderson) and her ace henchman Lothar (Varney), who hold patrons hostage by patching into the Mega Mountain electrical system, leaving ridegoers in midswoop.
Unless park owner Harry Jacobson (Pat Mahoney) makes a helicopter drop of $10 million in cold, hard cash, Medusa threatens to blow everything up. Leave it to the 3 Ninjas, with a little technical assistance from new neighbor Amanda (Chelsey Earlywine), to save the day and Dragon's career.
While we were never talking high art here, the "3 Ninjas" series started out with a winning blend of action, slapstick and gentle moralizing.
This time around, director Sean Patrick McNamara, who co-wrote the script with Jeff Phillips, dumbs down the material even by comic book standards.
As for the cast, Hogan manages to look wearily heroic, while it's a draw between Anderson and Varney as to who's the most scary-looking. The new batch of Ninjas is fine, especially young, real-life black-belt Roeske, who may be a little shaky in the line-reading department, but is a blast offing all the bad guys. The lone holdover from previous editions, Victor Wong, makes a couple of brief appearances as the all-knowing Grandpa Mori.
The production is a model of cost-effective efficiency, but a little more generosity in the imagination department was required to bring this "3 Ninjas" up to code.
3 NINJAS: HIGH NOON AT MEGA MOUNTAIN
Sony Releasing
TriStar Pictures
Director: Sean Patrick McNamara
Screenwriters: Sean Patrick McNamara,
Jeff Phillips
Executive producers: Simon Sheen, Arthur Leeds
Producers: James Kang, Yoram Ben-Ami
Director of photography: Blake T. Evans
Production designer: Chuck Connor
Editor: Annamaria Szanto
Costume designer: Miye Matsumoto
Music: John Coda
Color/stereo
Cast:
Dave Dragon: Hulk Hogan
Medusa: Loni Anderson
Lothar: Jim Varney
Rocky Douglas: Mathew Paul Botuchis
Colt Douglas: Michael J. O'Laskey II
Tum Tum Douglas: James Paul Roeske II
Grandpa Mori: Victor Wong
Amanda Morgan-Green: Chelsey Earlywine
Running time -- 98 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
- 4/9/1998
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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