For Serious Action Lovers!!
Friday, November 27, 2009
James McTeigue’s “Ninja Assassin” is definitely not a throwback to the ‘80s, back when Sho Kosugi ruled the ninja roost with honor. Despite the presence of fan favorite Kosugi in “Assassin” – surely a nod to the man’s many accomplishments and contributions to the genre – “Ninja Assassin” couldn’t have existed in the ‘80s. This is very much a 2009 ninja movie, the kind that relies almost as much on CGI blood as it does the amazingly acrobatic skills of its leading man and his enemies.
Ninja Assassin follows an orphan boy (Rain), who was taken from the streets as a very young child by a thousand year old Ninja society known as the Ozunu Clan whose existence is considered a myth. He is bestowed with the name Raizo and transformed into a ruthless killer along with an army of other orphans from a variety of races. The movie frequently inter-cuts between scenes of Raizo's youth in the brutal orphanage/ninja factory and the modern day ninja war that is taking place. In Berlin, Europol agent Mika Coretti (Naomie Harris) stumbles upon a money trail linking several political murders to this ancient network of untraceable assassins. Unfortunately for her, this makes her a prime target for assassination. The Ozunu Clan sends a team of killers, led by the lethal Takeshi (Rick Yune), to silence Mika forever. Raizo, for his own honourable reasons, betrays his clan and saves Mika from her attackers, but knows that the Clan will not rest until they are both eliminated.
The final action scenes are actually enough over-the-top that there's some good fun to be had. McTeigue's cameramen seem to have gotten a bit worn out by the time they filmed these scenes as the movements of the camera are far less seizure-like. In between there are brief moments where we get to see what we have imagined it must be like for a ninja to slip in and out of the shadows. Had this been incorporated better in the action, had McTeigue rented a steadicam, had the mythology been made fun we might have a solid ninja film to return to time and time again. Instead we have a watch once and throw away, frustrating curiosity.
However, Ninja Assassin does a wonderful job of giving you hardcore action that mixes characters from very two different worlds in a way that exudes awesome. There are few things more rewarding then watching a team of highly trained tactical SWAT officers armed with SMG's, rifles, shotguns and pistols get messed up and diced into pieces by Ninjas. The way they use shadows to conceal and reveal Ninjas in this film is simply brilliant.
Trivias
- In Ninja Assassin Producers Andy Wachowski and Larry Wachowski hired J. Michael Straczynski to completely rewrite the script six weeks before filming started, as they weren't satisfied with Matthew Sand's original work. Straczynski finished the rewrite in 53 hours.
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