Shinobi

After more than four hundred years of war between the Shinobi warriors of the Manjidani Koga and Tsubagakure Iga clans, the Lord Hattori Hanzou decrees that they must live in peace. Both clans live hidden in the woods and mountain without confrontation and without training ninjas in the shadow art of Shinobi. In 1614, the Lord of the Lords is convinced that the clans are dangerous threats for keeping peace in his lands, and his adviser plots a Machiavellian plan to destroy their best warriors in a contest. Meanwhile, the young Iga Oboro (Yukie Nakama) and Koga Gennesuke (Joe Odagiri) fall in love for each other. When Oboro's grandmother and leader of Iga clan Ogen (Riri) and Gennesuke's father and leader of the Koga clan Danjo (Minoru Terada) kill each other, Oboro and Gannesuke must lead their warriors in the ultimate battle of the Shinobi clans.

"Shonobi" is a wonderful and tragic romance, with drama, action and fantasy. The story slightly recalls Romeo and Juliet, with the impossible love of Oboro and Gennesuke that belong to enemy clans, and X-men, with the dark powers of the Shinobi warriors. The cinematography, the choreography of the fights and the state-of-art special effects are awesome, and the story is engaging and shows an adequate pace. The beauties of Yukie Nakama, Tomoka Kurotani and Erika Sawajiri are amazing, but the romance of Oboro and Gannesuke should have been better explored to increase the intensity of their final act. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Shinobi – A Batalha" ("Shinobi – The Battle")

If we are looking for elaborated Japanese story, this movie is not as elaborated as (for example) Kurosawa's Samurai trilogy. If we are looking for the actions, the movie does not offer much too. This movie is a bit of everything: romance, action, etc.

However, what I really like in this movie is the eastern philosophy. Something like "love is not everything, above love there is honor (of the clan) and the obligation (towards the government)". And also about submitting to fate; like the immortal one who choose to die by inhaling the poison, simply because he accepts that "Our time has passed".

Furthermore, this movie help me to empathically see how difficult it is to be a leader; to change the vision of the members, when the members are not ready to leave the old vision. Gennosuke fails to convince his 4 warriors about the importance of avoiding the fight; I can only imagine how hard it is for a leader to convince millions of citizens to do something different.

In Shinobi, ninja Romeo and Juliet have to fight each other because the great Tokugawa ordered it. What will it happen? This is a movie that is based , apparently, on a Futaro Yamada novel, called Kouga Ninpu Chou. Both Ninja Scroll and Basilisk anime are based on it. I haven't yet seen Basilisk, but the beginning of the first episode is identical to the beginning of this movie. It might be better to watch Basilisk first to really understand the film.

For me, the more deep meaning of the film was that people are ants, and as long as there is some bigger ant that a lot of smaller ants listen to, individual skills are useless. In the end, Tokugawa justifies his actions by the eternal "you are not really human". Well, isn't that the cherry on the cake? Every war ever fought was based on the idea that your enemy is not human or at least very different. So much for the bringer of peace in Japan.

The action is good, though, you meet interesting ninjas with great skills, then they die. So much training for just one silly moment. I was expecting the two villages to unite and kick some bureaucratic ass, but that was not to be. Alas, in the modern world, the bureaucrats always win.

===== Update =====

I couldn't find the IMDb entry for the animation series Basilisk, so I will just comment on it here:

Oh my God, they killed Taizen! You bastards! :)

It makes sense to continue the comment here, as the plot is almost identical both in the series and the film. The anime has 24 episodes, the idea of each being how different ninjas fight with their special abilities. The characters are a bit different, but mostly the same powers they have in the film they have in the movie. Taizen is really annoying in the series, as well as Oboro, while some of the chicks are drawn really well :) The ending is slightly different, but essentially, if you've seen the movie, there is a high probability you will get bored watching the anime. Watching the anime first, though, would make the film seem rather silly. Anyway, good anime, but not amongst the best.

The comments I've seen for this movie are the sole reason I signed up at IMDb; in order to rebuke some of the harsh criticism given. I haven't seen the Manga cartoon, or read the comic if there was one - so I say unabashedly that I loved this film. I think at least one other comment made was a reflection of bitterness about not having the film remain faithful to the animated series, in whatever form it exists.

That said, for those who are new to it all, I HIGHLY recommend this film to action lovers. I was thoroughly entertained from start to finish... from start to finish, I say. Martial arts movies come in three "fu's" by my classification:

"Regular-Fu": the kind that the incomparable Bruce Lee brought us followed by acts like Chuck Norris, Steven Segal, Jean-Claude Van Damme and the like; clean, physical and grounded.

"Wire-FU": This sub-genre has been best epitomized in films like 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' and 'Hero', often used in Jet Li films and even 'The Matrix Trilogy'. It's fast, hyper-acrobatic and aerial.

"Super-FU": This is where SHINOBI comes in. Fighters have very unique abilities that are often much faster and deadlier that Wire-Fu styles. This kind is fantastic, exceptional, and ethereal. If you could not suspend belief enough to watch a film like 'Spiderman', there's little chance you will like SHINOBI.

Now, for the special effects fighting nuts like myself, this film is a really good one. The storyline is most reasonably adequate, I felt . It is terse (stoic) all the way through, and has the action to match... and the acting really compliments that air. And boy, do some of the actors look their parts! There are no wasted sequences of nothingness in this film; the story is coherent, especially when I consider other movies of the same category, like 'The Duel' and 'The Promise'. On this point I disagree with some other comments again.

I don't know if a sequel was planned but I really hope so. I fully enjoyed the film, especially after expecting so little from what I initially read here!

I FINALLY got my hands on the DVD, and watched it a few days ago. I must say that I hyped this movie to myself for quite a while as I waited and waited for the film to arrive on subtitled DVD. Seeing the movie posters at the cinemas just made me salivate, and as such my view of the film was slightly slanted, and also of slight disappointment.

The film follows the story of the two tribes of Ninja - Iga and Koga, who have obeyed a non-aggression law for many generations. In a period of peace after Japan's own warring states' period, two ninjas from opposite sides meet and fall in love. In true Star-crossed Lover tradition, they have to keep their romance a secret. However, inevitably fate steps in to pull them apart, in the form of a shady tournament, designed by the Shogan's advisors.

The romance of the film takes center stage, and it fits well with the sub title "Heart Under Blade". The two main characters, leaders of their clans have to balance their love, and their responsibilities, as the Shogun's plot unfolds.

The Characters are very interestingly designed, and colourful. They all possess unique skills, and have very anime'esquire costumes and fighting styles. Much of the fighting is a combination of CGI and wire-work, and some of it is incredibly cool. The low budget effects will no doubt be critised by many who are used to ILM level of graphics, but while companies like ILM strive to make the fantastic, "real", Shinobi's effects are beautifully stylised. Regardless of how they look, their fresh and innovative look more than makes up for any lack of polish.

Character design in this film may be great, but sadly the personalities underneath have not been as fleshed-out. Except for the main characters, we are given as much as we need to know about each character to accomplish the end goals of the story, and not much more. Even the main pair felt a bit empty, and perhaps some more exploration into their feelings would have built their characters more. Seeing them hug and canoodle certainly showed that they were in love, but in the end I didn't feel it like I had hoped I would.

That said, the acting in the film is quite good. Taking cues from its comic and anime origins, the characters are even larger than life when in motion, and villains and heros are very archetypal, lending them comic-book credentials that probably would have been insufficient in a more serious film.

Perhaps it is the comic book acting, but at times the film, like many lower budget Jidaigeki, looked a little "television". I can only assume that this was due more to filming technology than quality. However, many people that love Asian film will tell you that to fully appreciate it, you have to look past the budget and see its heart. While Hollywood film tries to use the glare from all of its gloss to hide plot and character inadequacies, Asian film doesn't usually have that luxury. What it does often have though are ideas.

Shinobi does things that I have never seen a Hollywood film even try (except for a strange Spiderman like sequence which may have been in the source material anyway), and as such is something to see. It owes an awful lot to anime, and it is indeed based on one. From the character designs of the Androgenous razor whip wielder, and the silent hulking doppelganger, to the Ninja Gaiden like battle sequences, this film is an anime and ninja fans guilty dream. Plus with all of Yukie Nakama's conflicted and fragile expressions, you can't help but wish you could just give her a big cuddle! 7/10