Movie: Ninja Assassin Run Time: 1hr 39 min
Rated: R
Genre: Action / Adventure
Directed by: James McTeigue
Story by: Matthew Sand
Screenplay by: Matthew Sand & J. Michael Straczynski
Please note that there are SPOILERS ahead.
I was excited to go see this as the trailers were awesome. There was some expectation of a lot of bloodshed and that was true in every fight scene there was.
This was one cool affect
The beginning of the movie did not disappoint at all. Seeing the head sliced off at the mouth and then the head land on the floor was stunning. After this however, the story went down hill.
They kept jumping from present to past to fill in the story direction throughout the entire movie. We see Raizo as a child growing up in the Ninja family that is run by Ozunu. We find that the Ninjas recruited orphans to be part of the "family" and train to be great assassins.
We jump to the present seeing a Government researcher in the FBI (I think) - Mika Coretti discovering that Ninjas were responsible for some of the assassinations that happened in history. She reports this to he boss Maslow and here starts the other side of the story. They do give a semi-detailed history lesson on the Ninja clans.
I was taken back by how the Ninjas pretty much took out everyone no matter what guns or armor they had. They did a great job showing how stealthy they are and the weapons they used were lightning fast (swords & throwing stars). When you got to the fight scenes, they were a mixed bag as it was done in the darkness most of the time as the Ninja hide in the shadows.
The ending was stupid in my opinion. Raizo ends up swallowing a tracking capsule before he is finally captured. He then throws it up at the right time that the government storm the Clans Dojo - which just happens to be on a mountain side and large enough for Hummer and transport vehicles to travel to?
How in the fuck did the Ninjas not hear the vehicles or the helicopter coming to "storm the castle". After this, it is pretty much a massacre for the Ninjas as bullets and grenades are flying around. This is also the big fight scene to end all fights as Raizo goes up against Ozunu.
Overall I was disappointed in the how the story was defined and brought to the screen. For such great people directing and doing the screen play, I would of expected more from them. I feel the story development could of been better. I think this would of been a better movie without the Government involvement part of the story.
If we had the history of Raizo growth inside the Clan and then his defection from the and then them trying to kill him - this would of been better. The Ninja Assassin story would have been better if it was like this, but we have all seen these type of shows before. So the government part was added to make it feel different (?) - it just ruined it for me.
Honestly, a para-military assault on a Ninja Clans hideout in the middle of no where on the side of a mountain. Seriously - what were you thinking???
Overall: C <>
The beginning of the movie did not disappoint at all. Seeing the head sliced off at the mouth and then the head land on the floor was stunning. After this however, the story went down hill.
They kept jumping from present to past to fill in the story direction throughout the entire movie. We see Raizo as a child growing up in the Ninja family that is run by Ozunu. We find that the Ninjas recruited orphans to be part of the "family" and train to be great assassins.
Young Raizo and Ozunu
We jump to the present seeing a Government researcher in the FBI (I think) - Mika Coretti discovering that Ninjas were responsible for some of the assassinations that happened in history. She reports this to he boss Maslow and here starts the other side of the story. They do give a semi-detailed history lesson on the Ninja clans.
Mika and Maslow
We jump to see that Raizo had a girlfriend that was killed because she tried to "leave" the Clan. Poor Raizo has emotions that will affect his judgment which is bad as a Ninja. He does end up leaving the clan after a great blood battle where he actually cuts Ozunu. Now as an outcast, he will be hunted down and killed by the other members of the Clan.
There is no love for Ninjas
I was taken back by how the Ninjas pretty much took out everyone no matter what guns or armor they had. They did a great job showing how stealthy they are and the weapons they used were lightning fast (swords & throwing stars). When you got to the fight scenes, they were a mixed bag as it was done in the darkness most of the time as the Ninja hide in the shadows.
Training Battle with Hanging Orbs of Fire
The ending was stupid in my opinion. Raizo ends up swallowing a tracking capsule before he is finally captured. He then throws it up at the right time that the government storm the Clans Dojo - which just happens to be on a mountain side and large enough for Hummer and transport vehicles to travel to?
How in the fuck did the Ninjas not hear the vehicles or the helicopter coming to "storm the castle". After this, it is pretty much a massacre for the Ninjas as bullets and grenades are flying around. This is also the big fight scene to end all fights as Raizo goes up against Ozunu.
You can cut me - but I can still fight you
Overall I was disappointed in the how the story was defined and brought to the screen. For such great people directing and doing the screen play, I would of expected more from them. I feel the story development could of been better. I think this would of been a better movie without the Government involvement part of the story.
If we had the history of Raizo growth inside the Clan and then his defection from the and then them trying to kill him - this would of been better. The Ninja Assassin story would have been better if it was like this, but we have all seen these type of shows before. So the government part was added to make it feel different (?) - it just ruined it for me.
Honestly, a para-military assault on a Ninja Clans hideout in the middle of no where on the side of a mountain. Seriously - what were you thinking???
Overall: C <>
How was the acting? How was Rain's english?
ReplyDelete@lelouch-san - Rain did a great job in his speaking role and his english was good. Some of the acting was pretty much B-rating to me at times.
ReplyDeleteI think this could of been a great movie - but the story needed to be expanded. I think the government stuff added in would of been a good sequel instead of being dropped in.
you pretty much hit the nail on the read, and yours and mine movie review score reflected this. Great minds think alike! :)
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this film. Thought the action was well done and I thought the plot about the government using ninjas for political assassinations was a cool idea. I rarely go out to the theaters these days, but I'm glad I didn't miss out on this one.
ReplyDeletehaha wht are you chatting, as the the said above the ending seemed rushed and ruined the whole film for me , the beginning saw promise then dipped from there, ill always love the fighting scenes tht goes without saying but the story does need to be good to accompany the great action scenes
ReplyDelete