American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt

When I found out that Dudikoff was not going to feature in this sequel, my heart sank immediately but still, I decided to give this one a chance. Sadly, it didn't live up the expectations that I had hoped for

First off, I thought that the character Sean Davidson written for newly American Ninja star David Bradley here was kind of out of place. Hands down to David for an impressive performance here but I felt that he was portrayed more of like of the grown up version of Daniel from karate kid and has no Ninja background within him whatsoever which for me seemed out of place

Apart from that, I felt that the script for film was quickly rewritten after Dudikoff's exit. Rumors had it that he and the director (and probably Steve James) had some kind of argument backstage which led to Michael's departure from the franchise. James did a decent job in trying to make the film entertaining but in the end the film failed to impress me due to the fact that the title itself didn't really connect to the film

I think that if the crew took time in developing Bradley's character better (by giving him a more convincing ninja background), then it would have made the film better than what was given here

You could say that the film is built on a firm base, but it's also one big pile of self-obsession. Jackson is back, and now he has a new partner, karate champion Sean, as they must face a deadly terrorist known as "The Cobra", who has infected Sean with a virus. Sean and Jackson have no choice but to fight the Cobra and his bands of ninjas. If you end up watching this, you will probably be like me in saying that it starts off great then gradually begins to suck. It holds the attention but demands complete suspension of logic. I could've cared less what happened to these characters because there was no depth to them and I didn't feel attached to them at all. Ninja fans will like it. We've seen these clichéd characters a million times.

OK. "American Ninja 3 - Blood Hunt". Starring David Bradley as the lead. I don't know why Dudikoff quit, but I wish that it hadn't happened. Not that I dislike David Bradley, but Dudikoff is just a better actor, without doubt. On the contrary, Bradley is better in the fighting scenes, which (as always) makes up an important part in the movie. The problem is that Michael Dudikoff and Steve James had a special chemistry between themselves that now is gone. But it was a relief finding out that James was in this movie. Without him, it had been much worse. "American Ninja 3" has much of the same as in the two first movies, but with lower quality.

This is the pits. Absolutely the pits. If a picture says more than a thousand words, then writing "abysmal" 133,500,000 times should begin to touch the level that this movie is on. Brain death is a good place to start if you want to enjoy this pathetic dribble.

Stunts that would embarrass Matlock and a script that could frighten the writers of the Menthos commercials.

Apart from such elements as secret island ninja cults, the obligatory karate championship and the evil European-accent criminal mastermind, this manages to scrape the bottom of a barrel to a degree that even the original movie could not touch when it introduces such wonderfully realistic elements as genetically modified superninjas as a tool to terrorist generals and - here is something new and original - oil sheik arabs driving Mercedeses.

There is also a female ninja master who sees the light and is turned over to the "good side" and is wooed by the American ninja, as well as a comic relief sidekick, both of whom - and this is the only redeeming feature of the movie - die.

Apart from this, ninjas that are clearly made from alabaster, judging by how easy they snuff it, fighting sequences that lack any sort of power or punch (the female ninja is absolutely pathetic) and a piano "riff" that plays through every damn single fighting sequence to the point where you can feel it drilling through your ear drums.

Oh, and the credits song. "The Cobra Strikes". I am considering suing for aggravated assault.

This was my first, and most likely also the last, time to watch "American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt". It just wasn't an "American Ninja" movie without Michael Dudikoff. This third movie was more of a mutation between "Karate Kid" and "American Ninja", but it just never took hold on either account.

Sean, a boy who was orphaned and taken in by a Japanese and trained to be a ninja, is participating in a martial arts competition. But when he sees his sensei kidnapped, the martial arts competition become of no interest, and Sean sets out to find his kidnapped sensei and fight all the ninjas in his way.

Right... Seriously? Couldn't they have come up with something just a bit more original? Why boil soup on a formula already exhausted? The acting in this third installment to the "American Ninja" series was up to par with the previous movies, adequate but not particularly memorable.

As with the previous movies, you know exactly how the movie will unfold, as they used the same recipe three times by now.

And to top the icing on the cake, "American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt" had an overly annoying piano score playing throughout a large part of the movie. I am sure it was intended to compliment the movie, but it just added a level of idiotic spoof to the atmosphere of the movie.

And it was especially entertaining to see Sean throw to arrows, yes throw, and killing two ninjas with them.

Despite lacking originality and the original "American Ninja" star then this third movie is adequate, albeit slightly less mediocre, in entertainment value.