When I'd gotten older I found that tricks I once thought paramount were no longer. Ideas I loved no longer held company inside my head. And Ninjas were just a fading memory. A rising balloon set against the blue backdrop. Distant it ever became as the sun engulfed its sight.
Ninja Assassin is no more then a child's delight. A whimsical fantasy brought to the big screen by a well versed director (James McTeigue) of the arts. But before we dissect the movie let us forbid one ever distant thought from creeping back up upon us. Ninja Assassin is no Shakespeare.
The story is entirely superficial. It merely guides us along and fits into place as needed. There are no -gasp!- moments of shocking revelation. No twist ending. No analogies or fluff. There are ninjas, their actions to and against, and some intermission/prelude where pointless side characters talk amongst themselves while the real meat hides inside the shadows. Waiting.
Think Transformers (as the contrast) except with less Shia Lapuke and more ninjas.
What happens, how it happens, why it happens, all truly pointless in the eyes of destruction. And believe you me these ninjas destroy with vengeance. The main character, Raizo, played by pop artist "Rain" (see his other work for comparison such as Chan-Wook Park's "I'm a cyborg, but that's OK") has all the right tools (literally) to dismantle foes with ease. Being orphaned as a wee child, adopted by a family of strict assassins and then outcast just as quickly, Raizo wages a one man (/ninja) war against the clan that bore him.
As I said, it works and you ain't here to see no story telling perfection.
You're here for the fight. Nothing else. And needless to say what a fight Raizo puts on. From the expected ninja assassinations (such as the one in the early going. Step into shadow/blade comes out, etc) to the outdoor chase scenes, to the warehouse cluster****. The choreography is flawless alongside the swift cameras/special effects. Visually the movie stands out fairly well.
I said earlier this movie is like a "child's delight" but make no mistake this is no children's movie. The gore is constant (well... except the hiatus the movie takes right after the beginning) and brutal. Folks get sliced and diced in many differing angles and leave four, five, maybe six buckets of blood for every tiny gash.
Which walks me back into my final point. While the film is gory (there is no denying that) most is portrayed with almost comical amounts of ketchup that is at best somewhat silly looking CGI. Think Three Hundred and then multiple the silliness. I mean the actual content is wince worthy but the blood is simply outrageous. (Read: this is not a complaint or a bad thing. Merely an observation)
Ultimately Ninja Assassination completes what it sets out to do. It has its illogical or magical attributes (literally). And the story is about as well groomed as a Michael Bay flick but it all works out in the end. You enter for entertainment of blood and leave satisfied. Don't expect the Matrix because -o.m.g. The Wachowski name! - this is not. And to another point, stop gushing to the point of no returns. Speed Racer was a good movie also bearing such a banner but it simply was overlooked (like McTeigue) because some people simply cannot get past themselves. Hell V for Vendetta was another (actually helmed by McTeigue) that was well captured on screen (although the book still remained better me thinks).
But I digress. If you search for anything else (then explicitly stated), don't bother, disregard this review and go back to your original programming.
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3/5 Stars
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Thank you and goodnight,
-Rossini
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