huaaa.. dah tgk trailer.. mcm gempak.. sblm ni dah tgk lee byung hyun speaking dlm gi joe.. not bad.. kali ni nk tgk rain plak.. huhu.. nampak cam real je rain kene slash tuh..
aku confuse skit antara Ninja dan Ninja Assassin.. next week 29 Oktober tyg Ninja sementara 26 November lak tyg Ninja Assassin.. Ninja Assassin yg ada Rain kan..?
[quote](Review by Sherman Chin – POSSIBLE SPOILERS) I have to state that I’m a [color=#03366 ! important][color=#03366 ! important]moviebuff and an Asian martial artist so my review might be a bit criticalas evidenced by the lively teenagers who were gleefully shaking thecinema (”Ninja” is shown in Malaysian theaters instead of direct-to-dvdlike in the US) seats as blood was splashing and heads were rolling.“Ninja” (2009) isn’t as hyped up as “Ninja Assassin” (2009), which cameup as my first Google search when I had tried to ascertain what themovie was about after seeing its enigmatic cinema [color=#03366 ! important][color=#03366 ! important]poster ad depicting a stereotypical ninja with the backdrop of New York city. So, I went into the cinema without much expectation.
The movie started out well enough with a quick historical overview of Ninjas in [color=#03366 ! important][color=#03366 ! important]Japanfollowed by a beautiful take of a Japanese dojo showing martial artistsperforming their “kata” or set moves. As most of the actors wereJapanese, it felt like a typical Japanese martial arts movie until thescene shifted to the hero of the series, played by Scott Adkins, whostuck out like a sore thumb (well, not if you think the Caucasian guyplaying Goku in Dragonball Evolution fits the role). He was showing offhis half naked sculptured body with lots of muscles. Nothing wrong hereif you are a screaming fangirl (Like one of the group of teenagersbeside me. Ahem!) but it definitely foretells the direction of themovie. It is one of those that glosses over the storyline in favor ofshocking our visual senses. Indeed, it would be a fantastic treat ofsights and sounds if only they didn’t make the heroine such a uselessdamsel in distress. She is the daughter of the grandmaster of the Ninjaschool and was depicted as being at almost the same skill-level as thehero at the beginning so it really gets super annoying after she has tobe saved for the umpteen time.
Ifyou are wondering why I am harping over the beginning of the movie somuch, it is because the entire storyline and character developmenttakes place during this relatively short period. Basically, thevillain, a schoolmate, attacks the hero out of rage because they bothlike the heroine and they are both vying for the grandmaster title. Intrue martial arts philosophy (shameless plug to my philosophy website),the problem could have been solved if the current grandmaster was notso quick to kick the villain out of the school and if the hero wouldhave just forgiven him (even if it is just out of selfishness to keephis enemies close). It is almost ridiculous that the villain then comesback to steal the Ninja heirloom that will certify him as the successorof the school when he seems to be doing well as an assassin.Criticizing the grandmaster in front of everyone before making anattempt at his life also makes us question whether he learned anythingas a discreet Ninja. The rest of the movie is almost all action just tojustify stealing the Ninja heirloom which is shipped to New York forprotection.
Spoiler ahead – the ninja heirloom is a boxcontaining an ancient ninja suit and weapons, which pales in comparisonto the villain’s super high tech ninja suit that reminds me of Batman’sarmor, even with the ability to glide and the added bonus of seeing inthe dark! If that isn’t silly enough, the villain attacks his Ninjaschool and is warded off by students using melee weapons. I guessthat’s just an excuse to show off the cool multiple-attacker combatwith lots of gore. One last gripe I have is that the hero gets awaywith murder. Of [color=#03366 ! important][color=#03366 ! important]courseI am not expecting some Carebear morality but this is like LukeSkywalker being influenced by the the dark side (the villain actuallymentions something to this effect at the ending) and winning because helets anger control him.
Inall fairness, the movie had some good points going for it, such as thewell choreographed fight scenes and the use of actual martial artists(although they are certainly not Bujinkan ninjutsu practitioners). Thehigh tech ninja suit is not in the same league as Batman’s armor but isreally good for the film’s budget. The camera angles are good too andwe can see the whole fight sequences and feel the action withoutfeeling that something is left out like in the “Transformers” movie.And of course, the hero and heroine are both more than pleasant to lookat plus the Japanese scenery is beautiful too. To top it off, I have athing for happy endings and this one certainly takes the cake,considering how the heroic couple gets out of the entire mess in NewYork.
The entire movie feels like it was directed by Uwe Boll who isfamous for buying video game rights and making movies out them(”BloodRayne”, “Dungeon Siege”, “Far Cry”, etc). At least Boll has avalid excuse to fit the game content in but there is no reason why“Ninja” should be cheesy (but thankfully, not over the top). It triesto cross action and story but is never quite there at both counts. Ifwe are going for action, cut the crap and go all out like “Rambo”(2008) but if we are going for story, give it some twists like“Shooter” (2007) or better character development like “Batman Begins”.Still, I won’t consider this Ninja movie a total waste of my money. Itwas entertaining enough since I left my thinking cap at home. Now, ifonly they put me in the director’s seat!
Isaac Florentine (director) / Boaz Davidson, Michael Hurst, Zaki Rubenstein (screenplay)
CAST: Scott Adkins … Casey
Tsuyoshi Ihara … Masazuka
Mika Hijii … Namiko
Todd Jensen … Det. Traxler
Togo Igawa … Sensei
Garrick Hagon … Professor Garrison
Miles Anderson … Temple
Valentin Ganev … Klimitov[/qoute]
Post time 21-10-2009 01:45 PM
Ifyou are wondering why I am harping over the beginning of the movie somuch, it is because the entire storyline and character developmenttakes place during this relatively short period. Basically, thevillain, a schoolmate, attacks the hero out of rage because they bothlike the heroine and they are both vying for the grandmaster title. Intrue martial arts philosophy (shameless plug to my 
Inall fairness, the movie had some good points going for it, such as thewell choreographed fight scenes and the use of actual martial artists(although they are certainly not Bujinkan ninjutsu practitioners). Thehigh tech ninja suit is not in the same league as Batman’s armor but isreally good for the film’s budget. The camera angles are good too andwe can see the whole fight sequences and feel the action withoutfeeling that something is left out like in the “Transformers” movie.And of course, the hero and heroine are both more than pleasant to lookat plus the Japanese scenery is beautiful too. To top it off, I have athing for happy endings and this one certainly takes the cake,considering how the heroic couple gets out of the entire mess in NewYork.
