Black Fox: Age of the Ninja

OK. The story is slow, and the actions of some characters make no sense. Yet a couple of plot twists manage to rescue viewers from the tedious components. Patience pays off once the title character embraces the destiny the name connotes. It's not up there with Batman donning his first mask and set of tights, but it's in the ballpark. The protagonists are appealing, even as aspects of their characters breed frustrations. If you're getting restless, just fast-forward to the next fight. They're as excitingly choreographed as any genre fan could want.

This is apparently a prequel to an animated feature I haven't seen. By the time the dust settled, a live-action sequel didn't seem like the worst idea that might be pitched to the studio.

Well, I am not familiar with the Anime or Manga that this movie apparently is a prequel to, so I didn't know what to expect from his 2019 movie. But being an avid fan of Asian cinema, of course I sat down to watch "Black Fox: Age of the Ninja" from writer Naoki Hayashi and director Koichi Sakamoto.

And while "Black Fox: Age of the Ninja" was watchable and entertaining enough for what it turned out to be, this was by no means a milestone in Japanese cinema. The movie was a bit on the simplistic side in terms of storyline and plot, and there was a permeating feel emanating from the movie as if it was aimed at an adolescent audience. So I didn't really enjoy the movie all that much, though I managed to sit through it to the end.

It was this overly simplistic storyline that held back "Black Fox: Age of the Ninja" from becoming more than what it turned out to be. There was a lot of potential here, but it wasn't properly utilized by neither writer nor producer.

And to further cement the feel of the target audience being an adolescent audience, then they had the likes of actresses Chihiro Yamamoto and Maimi Yajima in the lead. These two actresses certainly were casted unsurprisingly for their looks, as their acting talents were not really the brightest moments in the movie. Now, now, I am not saying that they were bad actresses, not at all, but their performances weren't stellar, nor outstanding enough to leave a lasting impression.

Visually then "Black Fox: Age of the Ninja" was quite nice. There was a lot of nice details in the movie, and the props department, costume department and set design department definitely amped up the movie with their input.

Ultimately, then "Black Fox: Age of the Ninja" was a watchable movie, albeit a bit too mainstream and generic of a movie. This is, though, hardly a movie that I will return to watch a second time,

My rating of "Black Fox: Age of the Ninja" lands on a mediocre five out of ten stars.

This movie has an amazing story, amazing acting, amazing fight scenes and a great moral take away as well. If you're looking for a sleeper hit this one is DEFINITELY for you!

This actually movie for 10 year children... maybe even younger. I do not believe it was human being who wrote screenplay for this - it is too stupid. Characters are ugly and schematic - not a single living soul in entire movie. Acting is horrible and pathetic. I feel so stupid and ashamed I spent whole 15 minutes watching this monstrosity.

For me this falls just below mediocre.

Story: Amateurish

Acting: Acceptable... but not all that challenging with 2-D characters

Choreography: I've seen better in fan films

Overall plot: Please, please don't make a second part. The first was sad enough.

Basically, this wasn't terrible but it was far from good. Parents be warned that parts of this are quite bloody. It's a martial arts film and not light on violence. The silly story line doesn't warrant the time spent watching it.