Well, I am not familiar with the Anime or Manga that this movie apparently is a prequel to, so I didn't know what to expect from his 2019 movie. But being an avid fan of Asian cinema, of course I sat down to watch "Black Fox: Age of the Ninja" from writer Naoki Hayashi and director Koichi Sakamoto.
And while "Black Fox: Age of the Ninja" was watchable and entertaining enough for what it turned out to be, this was by no means a milestone in Japanese cinema. The movie was a bit on the simplistic side in terms of storyline and plot, and there was a permeating feel emanating from the movie as if it was aimed at an adolescent audience. So I didn't really enjoy the movie all that much, though I managed to sit through it to the end.
It was this overly simplistic storyline that held back "Black Fox: Age of the Ninja" from becoming more than what it turned out to be. There was a lot of potential here, but it wasn't properly utilized by neither writer nor producer.
And to further cement the feel of the target audience being an adolescent audience, then they had the likes of actresses Chihiro Yamamoto and Maimi Yajima in the lead. These two actresses certainly were casted unsurprisingly for their looks, as their acting talents were not really the brightest moments in the movie. Now, now, I am not saying that they were bad actresses, not at all, but their performances weren't stellar, nor outstanding enough to leave a lasting impression.
Visually then "Black Fox: Age of the Ninja" was quite nice. There was a lot of nice details in the movie, and the props department, costume department and set design department definitely amped up the movie with their input.
Ultimately, then "Black Fox: Age of the Ninja" was a watchable movie, albeit a bit too mainstream and generic of a movie. This is, though, hardly a movie that I will return to watch a second time,
My rating of "Black Fox: Age of the Ninja" lands on a mediocre five out of ten stars.
