EDITORS NOTE: This review is now up on Creative Loafing, so please check it out there. It looks prettier there, anyway!
Ninja Assassin is a Wachowski produced movie that has amazing amounts of style, and hides any substance underneath the crazy amounts of blood in this fun movie, inspired by the classic ninja movies from back in the day. The difference, however, is this movie looks much, much better than those movies.
The movie is about Raizo, (Rain… no seriously, that’s his name) a ninja who was trained from a kid to be an assassin. After he watches as his childhood friend is killed, he realizes he can no longer be part of the group of assassins and vows to kill his old master. After meeting up with a detective, (Naomi Harris) Raizo battles wave after wave of ruthless assassins that were once his brothers in an attempt to stop the ruthless killing once and for all.
There is nothing about this movie’s story that is new, and everything is ridiculously predictable, but while the plot is easily put together, there is still a sense of fun and amazement at the stylized action sequences and gallons upon gallons of digital blood spilled. At first, the blood seems over the top and silly, especially since it is really clearly digital blood, but after awhile, it’s obvious the edgy effects are part of the charm.
The package comes with a DVD/Blue-Ray combo which is great if you have a Blue Ray, but not worth it for the DVD fans, as there are no special features on the DVD. The Blue Ray includes a 15 minute look at the myth of ninjas in cinema in The Myth and Legend of Ninjas. The best feature, however, is the Extreme Sport of a Ninja, which shows some of the people behind the movie, and their crazy agility and talents. The final special feature is Training Rain, a documentary about the ridiculous amount of training that went into turning Rain from a singer and entertainer into a convincing ninja. This feature really gives you a bit of appreciation for the movie and especially the actor when they invest this kind of time and effort into the role.
The combo also includes a digital copy of the movie, just in case you want to view this movie on an incredibly small screen like an IPod. This idea just seems kind of silly to me, especially for a special effects laden movie like this one, but I guess the option is cool.
Overall, the movie was fun, and really worth the rent, but unless you’re really into ninja movies, it won’t be worth your hard earned coin.
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