Ninja

The highest praise I can heap upon Ninja is that there is absolutely no fat on this thing. It's lean and mean and gets right down to the point: ninjas! It's a scientific fact that ninjas are way cooler than pirates and robots combined. Even dead people know this to be true. That's why it's hard to even muster the energy to attempt to try to bag on a movie like Ninja. The script is flimsier than a leaf in a hurricane, the dialogue is spotty at best and trying to make sense of every plot detail just outs you as an unpatriotic ninja hater. What the movie does do well is show you ninjas killing the crap out of everyone on screen. Scott Adkins and Tsuyoshi Ihara have a hellacious final duel and everything leading up to it is paced faster than a one hundred yard dash. Let's be honest, you didn't have any interest in this movie for its stern position on global politics and the humane treatment of thoroughly owned ninja victims. You came here for ninja-on-ninja action. It's way better than Casper Van Dien's suckfest Mask of The Ninja and in my opinion slightly better than Ninja Assassin. It is not, however, better than Chris Lambert's The Hunted. That one is the high water mark for trashy non-Japanese ninja movies.

The plot is pretty weak in this movie, and lacks a really intense story, despite trying so hard to be intense. It gets by on some incredible fights with Scott Adkins, and quite frankly, I bet I'm not alone when it comes to people watching this movie, simply because of Adkins. It starts off a little slowly in the first half. Tsuyoshi Ihara provides some great intensity, and some good villainy, but it lacked the proper excitement for me. Once the second half begins, things really begin to heat up. The action is so strong, you tend to block out the average story. If Adkins's subway fight sequence isn't enough for you, then Adkins's going completely ballistic in the finale, by making many martial artists look foolish will definitely hit the spot. This guy is incredible, and if given the chance, he could be the action star the genre has lacked since the heyday of the 80's action heroes. I wouldn't call it a great performance, but he acquits himself decently. If you're not blown away by some of Adkins's moves, I really question your judgment. His love story with Mika Hijii isn't anything groundbreaking, but it's moving enough. Speaking of Mika Hijii, she's far from a damsel in distress. Not only does this woman kick major ass, but she takes a beating like a champ. I cringed in some of those scenes, but she held her own big time. It's pretty violent, if you like that sort of thing. I personally like violence. The finale is a bit over the top with the dramatics, but it does the job

Final Thoughts: See it for some of the terrific action scenes. Scott Adkins won't let you down. As long as you keep in mind that it's not a great movie, you should be able to find mild enjoyment. I didn't mind it. I'm actually curious about the upcoming sequel

5.3/10

A westerner young ninja named Casey Bowman (Scott Adkins) is trained since chidhood to be a deadly Ninja , studying Ninjutsu in Japan , then he is asked by the Master (Igawa) to return to New York to protect the legendary Yoroi Bitsu , an armored chest that contains the weapons of the last Koga Ninja . But an angry revenger called Masazuka (Tsuyoshi Ihara) is nowadays seeking a merciless vendetta for his old mates and taking on the former master who trained him . As the ominous Masazuka to return demanding vengeance against the veteran Sensei . Things go wrong when Casey's girlfiend , Namiko Takeda (Mika Hijii) , is captured. At the end the terrible happenings leading to a lethal confrontation with the old fellow Ninja , our tough-fisted hero and other Ninja assassins . A silent warrior. A deadly past. A lethal mission. Revenge will rise . From the shadow of the night, a warrior is born not the weapon but the hand that wields it. Raised to become an assassin... until betrayal made him a target . Prepare to enter a secret world of heartless assassins .

It's a westernized oriental action film with an interesting mingle of suspense , brutal martial arts , sword-play , ancient ritual with typical code of honour and bloody combats . The gory plot is simple and plain , a nasty Ninja confronts the clan that raised him , and starring Casey/Scott Adkins being forced into action and steadily butchering his relentless enemies , while inching ever closer to the long-awaited bloody reunion with the infancy contender. This a nail-biting thriller with ustoppable action , including impressive fighting with a lot of blood and gore . It's a mindless but enjoyable story for martial arts aficionados of the old style , but adding some new technical being made by means of wires , cables and digital computer generator . Abundant fights as swords struggles in which arms , body parts and beheading are slice off here and there and limbs are slit open everywhere or blasted apart . Of course , highlights of the film are the breathtaking and groundbreaking fights with lots of blood dropping here and there . Cruel, savage murders and blood splatter , make only recommended for those adults no squeamish and with strong stomach enough to take it .The motion picture was professionally directed by Isaac Florentine .

This film belongs to ¨Ninja sub-genre¨ that achieved splendor in the Eighties : The first movie was ¨Enter the Ninja¨ (81) by Menahem Golan with Franco Nero , Menahem Golan was director of the first film , and was to direct its sequel also , but shortly before production was to start he decided to turn over directing chores to Sam Firstenberg . It was followed by the martial arts features ¨Ninja II¨ or ¨Revenge of the Ninja¨ (1983) with Shô Kosugi , Keith Vitali , Kane Koshugi and ¨Ninja III , the domination¨ with Lucinda Dickey and again Sho Kosugi . These pictures were well produced by Cannon -Golan and Globus- and all rightly directed by Sam Firstenberg . Following others also directed by Sam Firstenberg for Golan-Globus' as ¨American Ninja¨ , ¨American Ninja II and III¨, ¨Forced vengeance (82)¨ and ¨Avening force (1986)¨ most of them starred by low-grade expert on karate genre and Ninja sub-genre Michael Dudikoff . Following this 2009 ¨Ninja I¨ by Isaac Florentine , along with ¨Ninja II¨with Scott Adkins and Kane Koshugi . Furthermore , ¨Ninja Assassin¨ by James McTeigue with Rain , Naomi Harris .

Yesterday i saw NINJA.I am very impress to see this flick.Scott Adkins's performance is very good.Action sequences is also impressive.Story is just OK.This movie is much better than NINJA ASSASSIN in every term.Film location are good.Script are also good.Music is suit the film.The Most good thing in the movie is Scoot Adkins's action and performance.All the stunts seances are original.Plot of the story is also good.Train seances are very good and impressive. Makeup is good. Direction of the movie is very good.We can compare the movie with kill bill.The action sequences done without CGI technology.

I have been wanting to see a new ninja movie (that's good) for a long time, and I was impatiently waiting for this one to be released, seeing that it's a Nu Image/Millennium film (they make above average direct-to-DVD movies) and that it was to be directed by action expert Isaac Florentine. And I was overall satisfied. Granted, I could list some flaws, such as the fact the Boaz Davidson screenplay contains elements that will be familiar to those who have seen other ninja movies in the past, and it has the hero on several occasions dragging the female lead behind him despite the fact she's an accomplished fighter like him. But there's a lot more to like. The movie is slickly made, well-photographed and lit, and the chosen Bulgarian locations manage to pass off as New York (believe it or not!) The fight scenes are pretty brutal and exciting, resulting in some great splatter (though I wish the blood and gore had not been mostly done with CGI). Yes, this movie is far from great art, but if you are looking for ninja action, this movie delivers.