Movie of the Day – Ninja Assassin

I am a man of simple tastes.  When I decide to watch a movie entitled “Ninja Assassin”  I expect to be entertained by the mystical prowess of ninjas that assassinate people.  That’s all I expect when I read a simplistic title and watch a trailer that teases at the tip of a ninja sword (ha euphemism), just what I want to see.  I want ridiculous action, lousy acting, and a bloody good time.  Ninja Assassin is just that.

Ninja Assassin follows Raizo (Rain), one of the deadliest assassins in the world. Taken from the streets as a child, he was transformed into a trained killer by the Ozunu Clan, a secret society whose very existence is considered a myth. But haunted by the merciless execution of his friend by the Clan, Raizo breaks free from them… and vanishes. Now he waits, preparing to exact his revenge.  (source)

There is also the plot line about some Interpol agent stumbling upon the Ozunu clan and their connected political killings, but to be frank this is about ninjas flipping out and killing people.  Oh the ninja on ninja violence that happens in this movie.  If you were a big fan of the of the deluge of ninja films that popped up on the home video market in the early 90s, I wouldn’t say that this is a throwback as it is basically what we hoped and prayed a ninja movie would be like.  Sure there are other great ninja films out there that deal more about the elegance and art of ninjutsu, but when America does a ninja film, we get Three Ninjas or make Michael Dudikoff some American ninja icon (reaching with this reference, but I know some people will get it).  Ninja Assassin pretty much delivers on the action part, which is the only thing I am concerned with at this point.  Rain, as talented as he may be, isn’t much of an actor, but hey, he looked the part and made a believable badass.  I guess we have that going for us on Ninja Assassin.

What sells the movie is the promise of just all out chaos and dazzling display of athletic prowess since most of the stunts were practical, minus of course all the one where someones is cut in half.  There is a lot of incredible skill displayed in the movie and watching Rain go through an entire clan of ninjas is exhausting.  I mean the dude kills like 50 of them in action scene, fucking nuts.  The sword play, martial arts, and action all are top notch.  It delivers what it promises and that is loads of ninja assassinating people and other ninjas.

If you are wanting some mindless entertainment or a fan of ninja movies (who the hell isn’t), then Ninja Assassin won’t lead you astray.  The acting is pretty meh, but shit man the action is just bloody and astounding.  It’s bloody astounding!