Ninja

Ninja (2009)

Runtime: 94 minutes

Directed by: Isaac Florentine

Starring: Scott Adkins, Tsuyoshi Ihara, Mika Hijii, Todd Jensen, Togo Igawa

From: Nu Image/First Look Studios

On here I’m willing to talk about any sort of film. This includes direct to video flicks, which in the past means that it will be of low quality and it won’t be worth your time. In recent years, though, it seems like a lot of quality stuff that doesn’t have to go through “the studio filter” and whatnot turns out to be worth seeing. What I’ll be talking about here isn’t the best representation of the gems you can find in that format (not only does it include B-movie action, but also horror movies); if you’re an action fan, though…

This is something that’s been talked about on certain messageboards for awhile now; those people got excited when they saw this clip, and it indeed was a highlight of the film. Not that the other action was bad, though. You had a variety, from swordfights to gunplay to hand to hand combat to acrobatic actions.

To be brief, the plot is about a conflict between Casey (Adkins) and Masazuka (Tsuyoshi Ihara), both at a dojo in Japan; Casey ended up there as-shock of shocks-an orphan. They both would like to guard the McGuffin… er, I mean the Yoroi Bitsu, a warchest (literally) that has ancient weapons from their clan. Masazuka also doesn’t like that Casey is a white boy, so to speak. He tries to kill Casey during a practice session, so he gets booted out by the Sensei (Igawa) and the Bitsu, along with Casey and the Sensei’s daughter (Hijii) is sent to New York for protection. From there, that’s where things kick in and you get much action.

I’ll warn you guys that if you’re put off by some plot holes or obviously fake sets, then that’s a caveat to keep in mind. It’s filmed in Bulgaria; Eastern Europe is a popular place for low-budget flicks due to tax breaks and whatnot. The outdoor scenes in the daytime look fine and are convincing for Japan, Russia, and NYC. However, some of the outdoor night scenes SO look like a set. Look at this for an example. But, if you aren’t bothered by that, then there’s no problem. For the budget the CGI looked decent enough and it won’t take you out of the experience. I'd even argue that it's better than Ninja Assassin but your mileage may vary; both movies have their positives and negatives but if you managed to enjoy NA then you should see N, you know.

Note that while the movie officially goes on sale on 3/2, it's been available at Blockbuster for the past few weeks now, oddly enough.

I'll be back by late Monday night with one more review.