Ninja Assassin [Blu-ray]

5 Comments

1. The Bus

   October 3, 2010 at 4:14 pm

   Review by The Bus for Ninja Assassin [Blu-ray]
   Rating:
   This movie is completely awesome. You should know that there will be blood, oh boy is there blood. Body parts flying everywhere, heads getting lopped off left and right, hands, arms, legs, torsos being cut in half, and exaggeratedly immense amounts of blood gushing everywhere. People die in this movie, a LOT of people die in this movie, and not in nice ways. There’s also more than your fair share of shooting. This is the best Martial Arts / Ninja movie I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen a LOT of them. And what ninja thriller would be complete without an appearance from none other than Sho Kosugi? There is a lot of fighting in the dark, which of course is going to happen where ninjas are involved, and this makes some of the fight scenes a bit hard to follow. However, that just immerses you more into the chaos of the scene. You think it’s hard to see what’s happening? Picture being in a pitch black warehouse with dozens and dozens of soldiers and automatic gun fire and also barrages of ninjas coming out of everywhere swords-a-cutting and throwing dozens and dozens of throwing stars at anything that moves. Yeah, it’s going to be a bit difficult at times to see just what the heck is happening. There is some supernatural-ness to the film but it fits in well with the context of the movie. The surround sound of the movie theater was taken full advantage of with throwing stars coming from all directions, and oh my gosh they threw a LOT of throwing stars. I bet this movie hands down has the most throwing stars used in it of any other movie. And they’re not you’re regular throwing stars. These babies are about 6″ across, four pointed, and razor sharp. It reminds me of those movies that have thousands of archers sending thousands and thousands of arrows at the enemy. This was a similar thing but with barrages of throwing stars instead. If you’re into these types of movies, this has to be the best one to date. If you’re not into these types of movies, you’ll hate this one just as much as any other ninja movie. I personally believe that all other Ninja movies will be compared to this one from now on.

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2. Tsuyoshi

   October 3, 2010 at 4:09 pm

   Review by Tsuyoshi for Ninja Assassin [Blu-ray]
   Rating:
   “Ninja Assassin” opens with a very bloody action sequence, in which a gang of Japanese yakuza mobsters are murdered by a deadly ninja. The assassin’s attack is much faster than Uma Thurman’s heroine in “Kill Bill Vol.1.” The killer (or killers) is silent and almost invisible and the gangsters have no chance from the beginning. The scene ends with severed heads and limbs in a pool of blood. We don’t know why they should be killed, but we do know we are in for an extremely gory action flick.

   But we have to wait for that action to happen. The over-the-top violence is followed by the not-so-impressive storyline, in which Europol agent Mika Coretti (Naomie Harris) investigates a series of assassinations that she suspects are related to a mysterious clan of ninjas. In the meanwhile, we are introduced to a man named Raizo (Rain), who lives alone in an apartment room almost bare of furniture.

   “Ninja Assassin” is a modern-day version of Grade-B ninja action movies, with special effects and martial arts stunts. Ozunu, a very strict leader of the clan, is played by Shô Kosugi, star of the cult ninja films during the 1980s. Hero’s name Raizo reminds us of Ichikawa Raizo, Japanese actor best known for his role of the swordsman Nemuri Kyoshiro. The film is helmed by James McTeigue, director of “V for Vendetta.”

   The intention of the producers (including Joel Silver, Andy Wachowski and Larry Wachowski) is clear – a cool and edgy ninja action film updated for the new generation. Sadly they forgot one thing: action. The stunts themselves are decent, but set-pieces are marred by choppy editing. The narrative is uneven and awkward with too many flashbacks. Actors did a fine job, but James McTeigue is not ready for this kind of big action flick, relying too much on CGI-created blood and weapons.

   Though it is one of the critically bashed films released in 2009, “Ninja Assassin” is not as bad as you might be led to believe. The idea of modern ninja action film is not bad. It only needs a better director.

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3. Shawn M

   October 3, 2010 at 3:55 pm

   Review by Shawn M for Ninja Assassin [Blu-ray]
   Rating:
   OMG, I had no idea Rain was playing Raizo until the day before I went to watch the movie. I have to say that I was pleasantly suprised by his transformation from boy band hotty to Hot Ninja Assasin! I know he must have worked his butt off to get that body lean enough to do some of the actions in this movie. If you love blood/gore and ninja action then you will definately enjoy this movie. The synopsis was mentioned in the previous review so I won’t go into that again, but I will say that the working chemistry between Rain and Naomi in this movie was relaxed and not ackward like in some movies in this genre like kiss of the dragon or Romeo must die where I get the feeling the actor/actress is acting rather than in a natural state of being. Sounds weird but I definately noticed the difference. I hope to see Rain in more lead roles, he makes one hellofa ninja.

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4. Monkdude

   October 3, 2010 at 3:46 pm

   Review by Monkdude for Ninja Assassin [Blu-ray]
   Rating:
   If you want some extremely bloody ninja action, you’ll get enough for three movies with Ninja Assassin. I can’t think of a film that has as many limbs being cut off or higher body count than this one. Maybe the first Kill Bill flick and that’s really saying something. After reading a lot of reviews from the critics, I expected a horrible story and acting to go along with the carnage, but neither were that bad. I never heard of the lead actor, played by Rain, but he is suppose to be a big singer in Asia. His performance was on and off, but his physicality stole the show. I felt the scenes that showed the main character’s training from a young boy to a man at a secret assassin fortress added some depth. That sensei doesn’t mess around!

   Even though ninjas prefer to engage in combat in the dark, I like how you can still see what is going on in most of the fights. The many action scenes are the highlights for sure. They are brutal beyond belief, but some of the blood was a little too CGI for my tastes. Still, there were many creative kills using various slice and dice weapons. The opening scene has the most memorable kill, setting the tone for the rest of the film. And how can you not love seeing massive ninja stars being thrown at a machine gun rate of speed?

   The story is your typical martial arts fare and the acting ranges from pretty good to mediocre, but you should know better than to watch this for either of those elements. I remember a couple of weeks ago saying how the destruction of the Earth, as seen in the movie 2012, won’t likely be surpassed. Well, I doubt there will ever be another ninja film that throws as much violence, gore and action into just a little over 90 minutes. If there’s a sequel, you can count me in.

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5. Kuro Tsurugi

   October 3, 2010 at 3:10 pm

   Review by Kuro Tsurugi for Ninja Assassin [Blu-ray]
   Rating:
   1. Are you a fan of the ninja mythos? If yes, continue
   
   2. Do you like awesomely executed choreography and to be Entertained? IF yes, go on
   
   3. Are you one of those people that sit back and watch ALL movies looking to be enlightened on the meaning of life and anything that doesn’t make you think disgust you? If yes, Stop, you don’t belong here. If yes, Continue…

   When this movie was being thought up, there was one thing on the mind of the director. “How can I bring back the love of ninjas that I had as a young child?” His answer was to create this movie and update the premise of the ninja with the many cool things that have been done with the genre since the old days of Sho Kosugi’s Revenge of the Ninja. This means, take all of the mythological aspects of the ninja:
   
   Shadow walking (or melding with shadows)
   
   The mind of a Ninja (Classic training Sequences that exist in all Martial Flicks
   
   Wicked Sword play and creative use of weaponry
   
   Agility beyond what normal humans have
   
   Add in a little Ninja Magic and Jutsu
   
   = ENTER NINJA ASSASSIN

   As with all great movies and concepts this film excels at one thing in particular, Mixing Genres. Within the first 5 minutes of the story, you will realize that you aren’t dealing with a strict action movie. There is a great blend of Horror, Suspense, Comedy, and down right Awesomeness. As with all action movies there are some things that people consider weak with the plot but lets not get ahead of ourselves. If you go into an action movie looking to see Schindlers List, you will be disappointed. This movie was made strictly to entertain. If it does not do that for you, then you have no blood in your veins or you should go see twilight and look at the debauchery of vampire myth and swoon over the skin of a killer. Seeing Sho Kosugi again after all these years is amazing, and to see that he is still just as awesome as he was in the 80s when I was a child is Inspirational. Everyone does their job in the film acting wise, and After months of training and choreography and turning his body into a killing machine, Rain pulls it all together. I have actually read the script for this movie and there are some things that I hope are included with the blu ray. The ideas that are touched on in the film would make great stories in themselves and I for one hope that this implies that the Ninja Renaissance is upon us. Its been too long.

   The only thing you get from this movie is visceral action, classic ninja cinema, and a plot that fits the moment.

   A lot of people went into this movie thinking that they were going to go see the next Matrix film, as they do with any film that has the Wachowskis banner on it somewhere. This has lead to a lot of films by them and their protege McTiegue being overlooked. The biggest crime being the bad press that Speed Racer Received even though it was one of the best family movies ever. Buy Ninja Assassin and you will not be disappointed.

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