Trained since childhood to be a lethal killer, Raizo has since turned his back on the Ozunu clan that raised him and now seeks revenge for their heartless murders. Teaming up with Europol investigator Mika, Raizo steadily butchers his enemies while inching ever closer to the long-awaited bloody reunion with his former master.
Raizo, (which is fun to say with a Japanese accent) defected from the clan after they killed his ninja boo many moons ago, and while they hunt him down, he's made it his priority to wipe them out. [Not trying to defend their actions, but, In their defense though, she showed compassion. Ninjas don't show compassion and they damn sure showed none in killing her.] We get multiple scenes of him training and practicing among the flashbacks that tell his story. At one point, he even does handstand pushups on top of a bed of nails. Eventually he meets Mika, an investigator with interpol, who had drawn the attention of/uncovered the secret dealings of the clan by digging too deep into older (seemingly unrelated) cases.
Really? I always wanted to be a ninja, but this scene showed me that I wasn't Asian enough.
Towards the end, Raizo is finally captured. But with the help of a tracking device placed on him by Mika, the armed forces of Europol storm the hidden ninja compound and bring the pain! Thus setting up the final confrontation between Raizo and the leader of the clan.
Hot. Ninja. Action
Ninja Assassin is quite possibly one of the best ninja movies ever. Swords. Shoryuken, blood gore, you name it. If it was ninja related it was probably in this film. Shit was crazy. But here's my favorite part: the protagonist was actually Asian! No disrespect to Michael Dudikoff and the American Ninja franchise, but your time has passed. Actually, all disrespect and for the record, "American Ninja" is an oxymoron. Jerk.
Ninja Assassin makes American Ninja look like that time we were kids and played "Ninja" in our backyards.
The logic behind the film is sound. Ninja clans exist and shadowy gov't figures would pay them as mercenaries, because who would ever believe that ninjas are real? However, there's just a couple things that bother me:
- Parsel tongue - On the hunt, the ninjas speak in a hushed whispers and drag out their "wooorrrdddssssss"
- Ninja healing factor - Ninjas are mystical, that much is true, but do they possess a super-human healing factor?
- How he was receiving notice of the clan's activities/targets. - How/why exactly was this happening. He is not in the clan. Why/How is he receiving notice of their targets?
- The white children - The kids were supposed to be orphaned or otherwise unwanted kids in Japan. How exactly does this happen:
You just know that one of these kids grows up to be Michael Dudikoff.
Explosions? No
Nudity? No
next time i visit japan, i promise to take the ninja/samurai tour. shit's real and ain't for punks. i'm coming back w a fuckin arm!
ReplyDeletep.s. movie was bs!!!
You're crazy. Ninja Assassin was the best Ninja Movie to come out of Hollywood in years. It didn't even need a plot. Just ninjas. and they definitely delivered.
ReplyDeletesee, that's the problem right there!!! it came out of hollywood. how in the fuck can hollywood make a ninja movie, nigga?
ReplyDeleteAnd that's why it's so good. Because Hollywood can't. Yet they did.
ReplyDelete