Nukenin

Set in Sixteenth Century Japan. The Iga ninja are threatened with destruction by the forces of Japan's greatest warlord; Nobunaga Oda. The Iga leadership have clamped down on those within their territory any of the junior ninja suspected of breaking their rules faces death. One of those being targeted is female ninja Ukagami; however she won't be easy to kill!

I bought this on DVD on the strength of the fact that it is made by the director of the delightfully trashy 'Alien Vs Ninja'... while I don't think this was as much fun as that film it is enjoyable if you are fan of low budget ninja action. The story is fairly simple but serves justify the various fight scenes. These contain a solid blend of swordplay, throwing shuriken and the use of fists and feet. There is less blood spilt than in many such films. The forest setting may be necessitated by a low budget but it is a good location for the action. The cast is solid; particularly Mika Hahii, who is a lot of fun as Ukagami. Overall I'd say this isn't a classic Japanese action film but it is rather fun; I'd certainly recommend it to fans of the genre... if you don't enjoy it you'll only waste seventy minutes.

These comments are based on watching the film in Japanese with English subtitles.