Set in Berlin, Eurpol agent , Mika Coretti (Naomie Harris), has uncovered a connection between high profile assassinations and ancient clans of Ninjas. Raizo (Rain), a Rogue ninja hunted by his former clan the Ozunu clan headed by Lord Ozuno (Sho Kosugi) saves Mika from assassination and joins up with her to cease the operations of his former clan so he can avenge the woman he loved.
Released in 2009, the movie came about from The Wachowskis' desire to make another film with Korean pop idol Rain following his ninja based fight scenes in 2008's Speed Racer. The movie reunites The Wachowskis with director James McTeigue whom the duo had previously worked on the divisive but overall well regarded V for Vendetta. The script was apparently something of a rush job with a re-write done of the initial script by J. Michael Straczynski six weeks prior to shooting and that can definitely be felt in the end product as the plot structure is messy with rather burdensome flashback sequences, dangling plot threads, and some confusion as to why and how certain plot points come into being. But it's made pretty clear that the plot is a distant second in priorities for Ninja Assassin as it is first and foremost a showcase for acrobatics, pyrotechnics, and skirmishes and on that front it does deliver.
The movie is at its core a straight forward revenge thriller with Rain's Raizo trying to take down the clan of his former mentor Lord Ozuno as played by Sho Kosugi. This has been the plot of many of these types of movies and it pretty much hits all the expected beats here as well. Even the casting of Sho Kosugi is sort of a winking nod due to how ubiquitous his name has become with the ninja action subgenre. The investigative elements involving Naiome Harris' Europol Agent character feel like they're intended to give more weight and heft to the movie's rather anemic plot but the investigation feels like it ends up being pretty pointless as there's hints given to people "pulling the strings" but we never actually see how these syndicates operate and despite there being 8 other ninja clans for all it effects the plot they may as well not exist.
The action in Ninja Assassin is reasonably well done with good fight choreography and fun supped upped ninja action. While most of the action is well staged, there's a lengthy sequence in the middle of the second act where most of the action takes place in a barely lit underground bunker and thanks to the low lighting, muzzle flashes and quick cuts it was difficult at points to discern what was going on. For the most part when the action was on screen it was done well with maybe only the CGI blood pulling me out of it.
Ninja Assassin knows what it is and gives its audience exactly what they want. While the story is a mess of a straight forward revenge thriller and an investigation that goes nowhere, the movie does have a strong performance presence in Rain who makes a convincing ninja and does well headlining an action film. While there's not all that much that elevates it above the standards of the ninja subgenre, it'll prove a suitable in and out time killer for action fans.
Released in 2009, the movie came about from The Wachowskis' desire to make another film with Korean pop idol Rain following his ninja based fight scenes in 2008's Speed Racer. The movie reunites The Wachowskis with director James McTeigue whom the duo had previously worked on the divisive but overall well regarded V for Vendetta. The script was apparently something of a rush job with a re-write done of the initial script by J. Michael Straczynski six weeks prior to shooting and that can definitely be felt in the end product as the plot structure is messy with rather burdensome flashback sequences, dangling plot threads, and some confusion as to why and how certain plot points come into being. But it's made pretty clear that the plot is a distant second in priorities for Ninja Assassin as it is first and foremost a showcase for acrobatics, pyrotechnics, and skirmishes and on that front it does deliver.
The movie is at its core a straight forward revenge thriller with Rain's Raizo trying to take down the clan of his former mentor Lord Ozuno as played by Sho Kosugi. This has been the plot of many of these types of movies and it pretty much hits all the expected beats here as well. Even the casting of Sho Kosugi is sort of a winking nod due to how ubiquitous his name has become with the ninja action subgenre. The investigative elements involving Naiome Harris' Europol Agent character feel like they're intended to give more weight and heft to the movie's rather anemic plot but the investigation feels like it ends up being pretty pointless as there's hints given to people "pulling the strings" but we never actually see how these syndicates operate and despite there being 8 other ninja clans for all it effects the plot they may as well not exist.
The action in Ninja Assassin is reasonably well done with good fight choreography and fun supped upped ninja action. While most of the action is well staged, there's a lengthy sequence in the middle of the second act where most of the action takes place in a barely lit underground bunker and thanks to the low lighting, muzzle flashes and quick cuts it was difficult at points to discern what was going on. For the most part when the action was on screen it was done well with maybe only the CGI blood pulling me out of it.
Ninja Assassin knows what it is and gives its audience exactly what they want. While the story is a mess of a straight forward revenge thriller and an investigation that goes nowhere, the movie does have a strong performance presence in Rain who makes a convincing ninja and does well headlining an action film. While there's not all that much that elevates it above the standards of the ninja subgenre, it'll prove a suitable in and out time killer for action fans.