Geisha Assassin

I ask you? Why would a Geisha fight Ninjas? Let me tell you, I watched it without subs!! Can you believe it, WITHOUT SUBTITLES!!! I give it 10 out of 10. This movie is a mix of Japanese warriors where they meet and fight. Lets start with the action. Go Ohara is the action director who directed the action in Death Trance and Onechanbara The Movie. The action is like a Japanese wire-fu. There are a lot of flying ninjas throwing smoke bombs, a tough monk, a Japanese barbarian and another monk which he used some magics to contact demons!! Wow, what a show. Japanse B-Movies are entertaining and funny. There are a lot sword fights, punching, kicking, smashing and smack down. The story is simple, is about geisha who seeks revenge of her fathers death. By killing the killer. I didn't understood what he mean't that why he killed her father. But in the movie, I saw the father who began the fight. The acting, well... A bit.....okay, good. The direction is simple. The setting is nice and beautiful. Especially in the begininning of the movie where the Geisha walks at night in Edo. Very nice. The overall is positive. You will expect soo many things. Have I ever felt the movie is dull? No. Thats all I can say and the ending. Well, I don't want to spoil the ending but you might get a surprise. But not a big one.

Geisha vs Ninja strongly reminded me of the Italian spaghetti-western. The movie is a fairy tale, so of course it is unrealistic. So are Leone's movies. There are two simple but very human themes: the quest for revenge and the quest for truth. The conflict between those two is not really developed, so no 10/10 from me, but it's there. The leading lady is highly attractive, the cinematography is beautiful, the landscapes are gorgeous and play an essential role. The use of extreme close-ups and flash-backs are also a la Leone. What is missing is sick humour. There is a brilliant joke during the first fighting scene but that is by far not enough. That is another reason to subtract some points. Still G vs N never becomes boring. Excellently choreographed fighting scenes are varied with quieter contemplative scenes. All in all highly enjoyable. Of course G vs N gets slammed for exactly the same reasons Leone was condemned some 45 years ago. Those critics forget indeed that contemporary action movies from the USA (Terminator, The Rock etc. etc.) are not realistic either. So what? At least G vs N does not pretend to be.

The title pretty much says it all: pretty geisha Kotomi (Minami Tsukui) seeks revenge for the murder of her father, but to get to the man responsible for his death she must first defeat a series of foes in mortal combat. That's about it for plot, the film consisting of wall to wall fighting between the young woman and a variety of opponents (including a ronin, several ninjas, a monk, a magic man and his dream demons, and a bow-and-arrow toting 'Indian' woman) before she finally gets to even the score with her dad's killer.

Geisha Assassin is a low budget effort (from an undeniably enthusiastic group of film-makers) and has the distinctive look of having been shot on HD video rather than film; however, considering the relatively low production quality, the result is technically and visually impressive, with smart editing, considered direction, stylish lighting and cool choreography.

And yet, despite all of these positive points, the film fails to be a wholly satisfying experience, the slight plot failing to fully engage the viewer, the action scenes generating very little in the way of genuine excitement thanks to a frustrating sameness of fighting styles and locales, and the finale proving to be the dullest part of the whole affair rather than the highlight. With a tad more fun injected into proceedings—some excessive gore, perhaps, or even more outrageous comic-book-style adversaries—this might have been a hugely enjoyable piece of action cinema. Instead, it's passable entertainment for the duration, but unlikely to make a lasting impression.

5.5 out of 10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.

As this film opens Kotono, the titular geisha, confronts Hyoe, a samurai, and asks why he killed her father. He says he doesn't know who she means. He leaves and she is attacked by two other samurai. These are soon dispatched and she sets off to find Hyoe. Along the way she meets a variety of people who, for reasons she doesn't know, want to kill her. These include female ninjas, a monk with demonic powers and a lone woman in the forest who is a highly skilled fighter. Eventually she faces Hyoe again. Along the way we learn who her attackers really were and more importantly why a geisha would be so skilled in combat.

I wasn't expecting too much from this so was pleasantly surprised. The story is relatively simple... just about everybody Kotono meets will try to kill her and they will fail. The way they attack is nicely varied though and while nobody will doubt that Kotono will ultimately prevail she does get injured more than one might expect. Given the obvious budget constraints the fights are impressive. The cast is pretty solid; especially Minami Tsukui as Kotono. Overall I'd recommend this to fans of the genre; it might not be a great film but it is a lot of fun if you like ninja or samurai based action.

These comments are based on watching the film in Japanese with English subtitles.

The Fight choreography is really the top of the bill! Like the very best Hong Kong style choreography (Jet Li For Example), Anyway a lot better then Hollywood (more holly than wood). The film was very entertaining, For example the freeze-frame with 4 fighting: geisha against ninja's: re-action after a few seconds: really fantastic! (I gave the whole film 9 out of 10!) The story is OK. Original stories are difficult to find, everything has been done by now... First film that looks and feels like Geisha vs Ninja comes to mind is Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Of course because of the female fighting and the shaolin-style (I know, it's the wrong country): i mean the semi sorcerer fight-style. Jumps from 20 yards, from treetop to treetop... It was really entertaining!!!! DarkMax From Singapore has a point: Some of the mistakes like the Geisha-walking, the katana (See Zatoichi (Shintaro Katsu!) about concealed sword in bamboo!), and others were very obvious mistakes, but if you are looking for mistakes in a movie, you'll always find some/a lot!!