Ninja

I’m a great lover of action cinema, and that includes cheesy 80's B-action flicks. Modern films, with all of the technology and advancements in animation and CGI could never capture the charm of those oldies, that lied mostly in their utter simplicity. Of course, there’s old-school actioners made today, but in all honesty, they pretty much suck and the only reason I love them is because I’m an avid fan of the genre and give them much leeway.

Sly Stallone’s “John Rambo” was a revival of the A-action films of the 80's. “Ninja” is the revival of their B-brethren. Even though it officially isn’t, “Ninja” could be viewed as a remake of the cult classic “American Ninja” in many ways. The only one missing is the great Michael Dudikoff.

Casey (Scott Adkins) is an American orphan adopted by the master of a Japanese dojo, the only one in the world that guards Yoroi Bitsu, a sacred and ancient ninja legacy. Through the years, Casey and Masazuka (Tsuyoshi Ihara) developed a rivalry that ends with him trying to kill Casey in a burst of rage. For that he is expelled from the dojo. Pissed off, Masazuka swears revenge upon Casey and all of those who he felt betrayed him. When Casey and the dojo master’s daughter Namiko (Mika Hijii) are ordered to safely transport the Yoroi Bitsu to NY, Masazuka sees this as his chance to get even.

As you can see, the similarities with “American Ninja” are many: both Casey and Joe are orphans, both of them are taught in the secret ways of the Ninja, both have to face a corrupt man in a power position with a personal army at his disposal, both fall in love with the daughters of their superiors, etc. This doesn’t come as a surprise considering the people behind the camera. First of all, Nu Image & Millenium Films as production companies, Boaz Davidson and Michael Hurst as screenwriters with Isaac Florentine as director – a man who honed his skills with flicks like "Bridge of Dragons", "Undisputed II", "Max Havoc" and many more.

So, both script and storywise “Ninja” is pure 80's action. But it’s also a giant step forward – in terms of the fight scenes. Back then, most battles were very, very naïve with the hero’s opponents being many and all dumb as fuck (and getting dumber with each sequel). We liked the action because it was funny. Here, I like the action because it kicks ass! The fight coordinator Akihiro Noguchi did an amazing job. Seriously, the martial arts displayed in “Ninja” are at the very top, real quality material and a pleasure to look at. And most importantly, there’s a fight every few minutes! There's no hordes of enemies, but instead the few that do appear are skilled and moderately intelligent - they don't just stand around Casey and attack one by one, for example.

I also have to specifically mention Mika Hijii who plays Namiko. Her character is of course totally stereotyped (this is an American film, after all) but Mika’s performance is such that she won’t ever annoy you, unlike - for example - most Japanese AV stars in pinku films I've been watching lately trying to act like goofy school-girls and failing.

On the other hand, Scott Adkins is not The Dudemeister. Adkins is undoubtedly a better martial artist, but Dudikoff is a better actor (as funny as it may sound). Adkins’ underperformance is the only thing I can hold against “Ninja”.

The music composed by Stephen Edwards is an improvement over the original scores of that time. He used the same blueprint for his score (cheesy rock, traditional oriental sounds), but added elements that make it a fresh listening experience – not a ripoff, but a tribute to the old scores.

In the end, “Ninja” is the definition of the term revamped at its best. They took the legacy of 80's action cinema, got rid of all the bad and made the good 10 times better. I can’t recommend it enough!

Rating: 9/10

- review by Ventilation Shaft

Rating: 4/5

Ninja, the film which really introduced  me to Scott Adkins. Now I don’t want this review to be completely  biased towards Scott Adkins, which is probably why it has taken me this  long to actually review it. Ninja is a throw back to those classic 80′s  martial arts films, it has the outsider, Casey studying at a Ninjutsu  school and becomes enemies with a fellow student. The Sensei trusts  Casey to protect the armoured chest Yoroi Bitsu which contains weapons  from ancient Ninja’s. This sends Casey to New York, and his enemy is on  the trail for the Yoroi Bitsu feeling that he should be the chosen one  not Casey.

Sounds simple enough, as Ninja starts  off introducing us to its characters and the Ninja school. We find out  about Casey, the man who becomes his enemy Masazuka (Tsuyoshi Ihara) and  the love which blossoms between Casey and female student Namiko (Mika  Hijii). You really start to feel for these characters, and you might  even side with Masazuka, which I felt was something a bit different. You  can see his point of view and why he feels the way he does towards  Casey. Casey is a really likable character, and it helps that Scott  Adkins has such a great look too. Unlike in Ninja Assassin, the female  character is not annoying at all and I quite enjoyed her. The acting  isn’t bad for this type of film, everyone tries their best with what  they have been given, but a film like this, the acting is second place.

This is all about the action and  martial arts, and this film has fantastic fight choreography. Director  Isaac Florentine certainly knows his stuff, and he can direct action and  fight scenes in such an exciting way, I had a blast watching it. Scott  Adkins and Tsuyoshi Ihara are both fantastic martial artists, and they  worked extremely well off each other. Both impress big time with their  skills and screen presence. I would love to see these two work together  again, because it works. While the film does suffer from some typical  cliches, especially when it comes to the end you can forgive them  because the film has heart. It has the usual on the run stuff, the ‘good  guys’ get mistaken for the ‘bad guys’ and so forth, and it makes for  some great action scenes. There is one in a police station which is  pretty cool but it also comes off as a pretty stupid police station.

Definitely check this out if you like  Ninja’s, martial arts films, action films, this one is a blast and it is  better than Ninja Assassin. Scott Adkins is certainly someone to keep  an eye on, I’d like to think he is the future of martial arts films. I  also really want to see more of Tsuyoshi Ihara, that man is fantastic as  well. In my opinion you can’t go wrong with this film and it felt in a  way it was tailor made just for me.


First published on June 19th 2010, on SuperMarcey.com

Last updated: 2010-06-23 23:25:38 by SuperMarcey