Ninja Assassin

[James Compton]

I saw it Sunday night and really liked it. Having grown up on real (japanese) ninja films like

Shinobi No Mono and Ninja Wars - I had my reservations. The story was okay. The martial arts

fighting, while not being true ninpo was entertaining anyway. I like how FX was used to illuminate flying shurikens in dark rooms.

The ARRI Master primes looked smooth and sharp on the big screen. The last film I saw projected shot with them was "Body Of Lies". Karl Lindelaub did an impressive job with the fight scenes, escpecially the living room ninja battle illumnated by flashlights. Shadows almost became a character itself in this film. I like how the director played on the myth of ninjas as being otherworldy. The most impressive lighting occurs in the final 10 minutes of the film that is backlight by FLAMES!!!!! Yeah..very nice, Karl. Very nice.

[Steve Wallace]

I liked it too. I also thought it was good for what it was and grew up in the 80's with movies starring Sho Kasugi on a good day and Michael Dutikoff on a bad. I thought the story line got into Taboo (from Oshima) territory with the guy and the girl... Although in Taboo it was two guys :blink: , and the ending reminded me of Sword of Doom.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to compare Ninja Assassin to these other, albeit better movies. But I think if you put aside reservations, you can go to it and have a really fun time. After all, it was the cheesy 80's ninja movies, and 70's kung-fu movies that introduced me to Asian Cinema. From there I went to John Woo, and then to Wong Kar-wai. Now I have a huge appreciation for countless directors from the region. Hey, you gotta start somewhere...right?

[James Compton]

I liked it too. I also thought it was good for what it was and grew up in the 80's with movies starring Sho Kasugi on a good day and Michael Dutikoff on a bad. I thought the story line got into Taboo (from Oshima) territory with the guy and the girl... Although in Taboo it was two guys :blink: , and the ending reminded me of Sword of Doom.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to compare Ninja Assassin to these other, albeit better movies. But I think if you put aside reservations, you can go to it and have a really fun time. After all, it was the cheesy 80's ninja movies, and 70's kung-fu movies that introduced me to Asian Cinema. From there I went to John Woo, and then to Wong Kar-wai. Now I have a huge appreciation for countless directors from the region. Hey, you gotta start somewhere...right?

 

 

Yeah, it was really nice to see Sho Kosugi weilding a sword again on the big screen. Back in the day, Revenge of the Ninja was my all time favorite. American Ninja was absolute garbage, though.