Ninja Assassin (2009) User Reviews (273)

Plenty of blood & martial arts fights if nothing else.

[poolandrews · 7/10 · 17 September 2010]

Ninja Assassin is set in Berlin where Europol researcher Mika Coretti (Naomie Harris) has a possible lead on several assassinations, Mika believes that Government's are paying a Japanese clan of Ninja assassins to take out anyone they want. The last bureau investigator to make the connection Alexsei Sabatin (Wladimir Tarasjanz) was thrown out of Europol & was then murdered, Mika is convinced she is right & continues to pursue her theory & talks to Alexi's widow who gives Mika a file about the Ozu Ninja clan that her late husband had built up. Going back to her apartment Mika is attacked by the Ozu Ninja who now want her dead as she is too close, but Mika is saved by another Ninja who introduces himself as Raizo (Rain) who was once a member of the Ozu clan but turned his back on them after they killed his girlfriend & now wants to bring them down. On the run from the Ozu clan & Europol both Raizo & Mika have to deal with Ninja assassins & armed police as they go on the run...

This American & German co-production was directed by James McTeigue & if you want lots of bloody Ninja fighting action & martial arts moves then Ninja Assassin is the film you need to see, if your a Ninja, martial arts or action film fan then it's very hard not to like Ninja Assassin. First of all the plot isn't anything groundbreaking, a superhuman Ninja assassin decides killing people isn't the life for him so turns against his master & clan & sets out to put an end to the Ozu Ninja assassins. The first half of Ninja Assassin is split between the present day action of Europol agent Mika uncovering the existence of the Ozu Ninja & flashbacks from Raizo chronicling his brutal training & the events that had lead up to the present situation, I will certainly give the script credit for trying to inject some heart & feeling into the Ninja & giving him some proper strong reasons for his bloody revenge even if it is still a little simplistic. At 100 odd minutes the pace is good & the second half features some truly spectacular Ninja & martial arts fights the likes of which I can't remember seeing before. I did question the climax somewhat though, how did Mika get Raizo to swallow that homing device? Why did Europol turn up at the motel if the homing device was on Raizo? How did Mika know the Ozu Ninja would just take Raizo rather than kill him & her there & then? I suppose you could come up with plausible answers for these questions though so it's not a deal breaker or a film killer.

I watched Ninja Assassin on Blu-ray last night & it looked mightily impressive, the Blu-ray also features a few deleted scenes which expand on the investigation by Mika a little bit but nothing major was cut. Where Ninja Assassin excels is with it's fight scenes, there are some fantastically cool martial arts scenes here from the Ozu Ninja attacking a Europol building to a great fight on a road with speeding cars zooming past the fighters to the climax set inside a burning dojo with embers floating in the air everywhere as sworn enemies fight to scenes of Raizo slicing the bad guy's up with a razor sharp blade on the end of a long chain. Ninja Assassin is probably as good as the final Ninja scene from Tarantino's Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) only in colour so the copious amounts of blood splatter can be seen in it's full glory. Make no mistake about it Ninja Assassin is maybe the goriest big budget Hollywood flick to get a theatrical release, heads are chopped in half, bodies are cut in half, arms, legs, fingers & heads are severed, people are stabbed, cut, chopped up & the amount of blood is often quite staggering. I also liked how the makers made the Ninja assassins of stealth who moved silently through the shadows & only show glimpses of them for the first few action scenes. There are plenty of cool poses & stylised action moves to keep one entertained & amused, some of the Ninja weaponry is cool too with some seriously dangerous looking Shruiken.

With a supposed budget of about $40,000,000 this is very well made, even on high definition Blu-ray the CGI blood looked alright, actually filmed in Berlin in Germany. The acting is fine, Rain is apparently a Korean pop star but does look the part here & he obviously trained hard. Shô Kosugi comes out of retirement to play the bad guy in his first film role since Drug Connection (1993).

Ninja Assassin isn't going to win any awards for it's intellectual storytelling although it does try to give it's main Ninja character's a bit of depth, it's the gloriously gory, violent & stylish martial arts fights where Ninja Assassin really delivers the good. The Blu-ray looks great too, by the way.

awesome

[rivertam26 · 7/10 · 25 November 2009]

Who knew that the most insanely violent, ridiculously brutal and psychotically gory film of the year would be Ninja Assassin. Look there's not much to it think 300 with Ninjas or Braveheart with less emotional involvement and ninjas. It's quite obvious that the people responsible for this film set out to make the most ass kicking Ninja movie ad they even one uped themselves. i remember when I was younger Ninjas were kinda cool but since than they've lost their flair and so has the martial arts genre in general this one brings all that back with a hellacious gut punch. Visually the film is incredible. It's unlike anything you've ever seen. The fighting is quick, furious and the story although not completely involving is involving enough so that we kinda like the characters. What the film does explosively well is decapitate, disembowel and explode it's victims across it's blood soaked screen. Imagine slow motion shots of a man diving out of the way of 100's of ninja stars, slicing people in half with samurai swords and being born out of shadows literally. It's an exciting piece of cinematic brilliance. i can't speak for the actual quality of this film despite the visual flair but I don't think anyone seeing Ninja assassin will be going in with a too critical eye. It delivers on its title and the trailer's promises and more. It's just freaking crazy as hell.

Wicked weapons, killer moves and Bloody battles at its all-time Best.

[xamtaro · 7/10 · 26 November 2009]

If the Wachowski brothers' Speed Racer was the ultimate tribute to family friendly classic cartoons, Ninja Assassin is the ultimate tribute to 80s martial arts B movies like "Enter the Ninja", video games like "Ninja Gaiden" and the Ultra-violent anime genre titles like Ninja Scroll.(Already noticed the name "ninja" in all the titles mentioned? well, what a coincidence!). It is violent, it is bloody and packed to the gills with action. Every thing else ends up playing second fiddle to the fights.

Unfortunately, "every else" also includes the story which is, a hodgepodge of very familiar elements. Raizo (played by Korean star Rain) is an orphan raised by a cruel master Lord Ozunu(played by Sho Kosugi, famous for his starring roles in, what else, 80s ninja movies like "Enter the ninja".) to be part of a secret clan of ninjas that have been responsible for countless assassinations over the centuries. Through a series of flashbacks (intercut with scenes of a half naked hunky Rain training with some vicious looking weapons), Raizo's tragic story is fleshed out. We see his tormented childhood days as a ninja trainee; his only emotional refuge, an orphan girl who, like Raizo, is part of the clan. One day, his friend tries to escape from the harsh ninja way of life and is executed, prompting a change of heart in Raizo who eventually betrays his clan after a narrowly botched mission. Now on the run, hunted by both his former comrades and a special international task force, Raizo finds an unlikely ally in the form of Mika Coretti, a Europol agent who is close to exposing the secret existence of the Ninjas and hence targeted for assassination.

Simply put, the unoriginal storyline is highly predictable and filled with B movie clichés from stem to stern. It is a definite step down from the philosophical Matrix trilogy or the sophisticated and political V for Vendetta.

Characters are, at best, cardboard cut outs and at worse painfully bland. None of them come across as emotionally engaging. Raizo is especially underdeveloped despite being the main character. His internal motives for his betrayal are never fully explored and the cheesy romance bit, not to mention the whole big about "the heart' feels like a tacked-on afterthought. The acting is passable; nothing better than the level of a TV series, but the script manages to have a couple of witty lines of dialog.

Though Ninja Assassin is no work of storytelling perfection, it delivers what it promises: lots of fights and lots of violence. Limbs are lobbed off, stomachs are split open and heads are busted as the movie slashes its way from one fight scene to the next, delivering scenes of wicked weapons and bloody carnage that make even Friday the 13th and Texas Chainsaw Massacre look like a tame PG film. The fight choreography is well executed with a good mix of slow motion and frantic close-ups. Special effects and CGI are used to effectively give the movie a very comic book-like feel (not surprising since the Wachowski brothers are avid comic fans and one of the screenplay writers is also a comic book writer). Thankfully some erratic camera work (especially during the scene where Raizo is being chased through a busy street) does not feel distracting but enhances the frantic and lightning fast pace of the fights. Blood flows like rivers as Raizo proceeds to disembowel enemies en masse; definitely not for the squeamish.

On a whole, Ninja Assassin feels like a hack-and-slash video game come to life from the first skirmish to the climatic showdown involving modern day special forces taking on an army of ninja warriors . Some cheesy bits here and there require a certain suspension of disbelief but the film's portrayal of ninjas in general is gritty and realistic yet preserves their mysterious and legendary status. It is refreshing too to see that Raizo is not some invincible killing machine as he does tire and he does take his fair share of hits, even going down a couple of times.

Forget Naruto and all those brightly dressed, magic power spewing ninjas of recent anime. Ninja Assassin is the butt-kicking, face slashing answer to all that. A respectable re-imaging of a dated genre and 99 minutes of non-stop violent escapism once you look past its narrative flaws.

Gore and Cartoonish Action Movie

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 19 October 2014]

In Berlin, the Europol researcher Mika Coretti (Naomie Harris) shows evidences of the existence of a network of assassin ninjas in the murder of politicians to her chief Ryan Maslow (Ben Miles). She is hunted down by the ninjas and protected by the mysterious ninja Raizo (Rain).

Mika learns that Raizo is an orphan raised by the Ozunu Clan in Japan and brutally trained since childhood to be a heartless killer by his master Ozunu (Sho Kosugi). Raizo has been attracted by the kind Kiriko (Anna Sawai) since when he was a boy. When Kiriko decides to runaway from the Ozunu Clan, she is captured and executed by Raizo's ninja brother Takeshi (Rick Yune). Soon Raizo turns against Ozunu and cuts his face. Now he is also hunted down by his ninja brothers. Mika convinces Raizo to meet Maslow, but they are betrayed. Will they survive the attack of the Ozunu Clan?

"Ninja Assassin" is a gore and cartoonish action movie that follows the violence of Takashi Miike. The plot is flawed, the characters are poorly developed but the action makes this movie worthwhile watching with violent fights like in a video-game, great choreography and lots of gore. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Ninja Assassino" ("Assassin Ninja")

5 points just for having Ninjas

[kemicon · 6/10 · 5 April 2010]

This is a movie about Ninjas doing Ninja things, being stealthy, practicing bad-ass moves, and killing lots of other Ninjas.

If you don't mind a plot that comes straight out of a not very good video game there is enjoyment to be had here. Sho Kosugi is excellent as the master ninja, and a great choice for throwback fans of much better Ninja films like Revenge of the Ninja (last time I saw it I was 8 years old so...) . Rain (the hero ninja) barely says a word through the movie and when he does he sounds a lot like another immortal swordsman, Christopher Lambert.

Unfortunately the Wachowski siblings seem to be getting much worse at special effects. Some of the scenes look absolutely unbelievable and the Ninja training ground almost looks like a student work for a 3D class. It must be noted that the extremely graphic decapitations look great though. Each decapitation is enhanced with buckets of blood that will make any Tarantino fan giddy with dark and kind of disturbing joy.

If you're looking for a realistic Ninja movie (I know I am) I guess you'll have to Watch Leon again and pretend he's Asian. There are a billion plot holes here, Ninjas are un-killable until the movie decides they should be cannon fodder. Your suspension of disbelief will be pushed into overdrive but in the end, a movie about Ninjas doing Ninja things is always going to be at least decent. Well if you're into low art anyway.

Oh and the movie gets an extra point for playing Being Boiled by Human League during the end credits.

Interesting

[devhammed · 7/10 · 10 May 2021]

I was skeptical before I decided to watch this because I don't want to see the same ninja plots all over again but it turns out to be the best bloody ninja movie I have seen so far!

Excuse me, I think you dropped some blood over there...

[Danterandal19 · 4/10 · 28 November 2009]

I like dumb action movies. I especially like dumb, over the top, gory, violent martial arts movies. Gimme some "Ong Bak" or even some "Bloodsport" and I'll be satisfied.

This is not a martial arts movie. This is not even an entertaining action movie in the slightest.

The story amounts to "REVENGE!" (like all good action movie plots, huh?), and of course the acting and dialogue is never up to par. But you don't come into a movie called "Ninja Assassin" looking for Mamet-like dialogue, do you? The prerequisite action is here...kinda. If by "action" you mean "we're going to CGI the crap out of these fight scenes, and make everything all blurry and dark so you don't see how bad they actually are". That's what you meant, right? Rain, I feel, is a pretty good looking chap, who's about as charismatic in the role as an Asian pop star pretending to be a martial arts master can be. And when he's laying waste to dozens upon dozens of pajama clad ninjas in some fairly slick & well-choreographed fight scenes (that comes maybe 50 minutes into the movie) you almost find yourself enjoying the film. But then we see a ridiculous amount of blood being shed, heads being cut off and severed arms flying at the screen. That's the exact moment where you'll find yourself completely taken out of the action. You'll then realize how stupid all of this is, and how there's absolutely nothing entertaining about CGI fight scenes in a live-action martial arts movie. It's a cop-out; you start to wonder whether "Ninja Assassin" is an actual movie or just the trailer for the video game tie-in.

At this point, your mind begins to wander. You find yourself asking questions, such as "Why is this movie so fake? What's the point of having cool fight scenes if you just crap it up with ridiculously fake CGI blood and gore? Why does "Ricky-Oh" seem like a far more realistic and realized martial arts film when compared to this mess? Why did I spend my money to watch this film?".

Luckily for you, you have the ability to spare yourself from asking that last question.

Liked it

[valexander69 · 9/10 · 5 December 2009]

Lots of blood and guts (you know it's going to be bad when the first scene involves decapitation and blood spurting everywhere) but all around I enjoyed the movie. I went in with an open mind, after only seeing one movie trailer I didn't know what to expect and was pleasantly surprised I liked it as much as I did. If you're not into very violent movies, this isn't for you. It was action packed and pretty intense, squeezing in an actual storyline with all the gore was pretty seamless. The fight Choreography was fantastic and the cinematography was beautiful (reminiscent of the Kill Bill series as far as blood and choreography). The last fight scenes have to be my favorite out of any action/martial arts film and had me in awe. The lead actor (Rain) does a good job and the overall storyline was fairly well written. I read that the screenplay was rewritten in 50some hours, I'm not sure what it was before but the outcome was decent. All in all, a good flick and I recommend it highly.

An update on the 80s Ninja movies of Cannon.

[IonicBreezeMachine · 6/10 · 7 August 2021]

Set in Berlin, Eurpol agent , Mika Coretti (Naomie Harris), has uncovered a connection between high profile assassinations and ancient clans of Ninjas. Raizo (Rain), a Rogue ninja hunted by his former clan the Ozunu clan headed by Lord Ozuno (Sho Kosugi) saves Mika from assassination and joins up with her to cease the operations of his former clan so he can avenge the woman he loved.

Released in 2009, the movie came about from The Wachowskis' desire to make another film with Korean pop idol Rain following his ninja based fight scenes in 2008's Speed Racer. The movie reunites The Wachowskis with director James McTeigue whom the duo had previously worked on the divisive but overall well regarded V for Vendetta. The script was apparently something of a rush job with a re-write done of the initial script by J. Michael Straczynski six weeks prior to shooting and that can definitely be felt in the end product as the plot structure is messy with rather burdensome flashback sequences, dangling plot threads, and some confusion as to why and how certain plot points come into being. But it's made pretty clear that the plot is a distant second in priorities for Ninja Assassin as it is first and foremost a showcase for acrobatics, pyrotechnics, and skirmishes and on that front it does deliver.

The movie is at its core a straight forward revenge thriller with Rain's Raizo trying to take down the clan of his former mentor Lord Ozuno as played by Sho Kosugi. This has been the plot of many of these types of movies and it pretty much hits all the expected beats here as well. Even the casting of Sho Kosugi is sort of a winking nod due to how ubiquitous his name has become with the ninja action subgenre. The investigative elements involving Naiome Harris' Europol Agent character feel like they're intended to give more weight and heft to the movie's rather anemic plot but the investigation feels like it ends up being pretty pointless as there's hints given to people "pulling the strings" but we never actually see how these syndicates operate and despite there being 8 other ninja clans for all it effects the plot they may as well not exist.

The action in Ninja Assassin is reasonably well done with good fight choreography and fun supped upped ninja action. While most of the action is well staged, there's a lengthy sequence in the middle of the second act where most of the action takes place in a barely lit underground bunker and thanks to the low lighting, muzzle flashes and quick cuts it was difficult at points to discern what was going on. For the most part when the action was on screen it was done well with maybe only the CGI blood pulling me out of it.

Ninja Assassin knows what it is and gives its audience exactly what they want. While the story is a mess of a straight forward revenge thriller and an investigation that goes nowhere, the movie does have a strong performance presence in Rain who makes a convincing ninja and does well headlining an action film. While there's not all that much that elevates it above the standards of the ninja subgenre, it'll prove a suitable in and out time killer for action fans.

Way too much credit is given by saying to check your brain at the door

[DonFishies · 2/10 · 27 November 2009]

I loathed the very existence of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. I knew I would hate it, but somehow managed to go in hoping for the best with lowered expectations. It made things worse. After surviving that obnoxiously loud and repugnantly offensive film, I figured I could make it through anything. Even something as silly looking as Ninja Assassin. But sadly, I was incorrect.

After a ridiculously awesome and gory opening scene setting the stage for what is to come, Ninja Assassin jumps headfirst into the story of Raizo (Rain), a ninja living in Berlin who wants to claim revenge on the makeshift ninja orphanage that raised him. Through mindlessly edited flashbacks sequences, the audience discovers how he became the ninja he is, and why he seeks revenge. And there is even a subplot about Europol agents trying to find ninja gangs, corrupt governments, and kinds of other ideas better stuffed down the rabbit hole.

In a word, Ninja Assassin is just awful. I realize action flicks are usually left mindless for a reason, but this film brings the word mindless to a new level. The confusing plot line is held together by mere threads throughout the film with no semblance of even attempting to try and make sense of itself. I realize I managed a description of the film, but trying to piece together motivations, actions, and reactions is simply an exercise in futility. There is simply no point. And even looking at it simply as a genre flick made simply for people to either laugh at its stupidity during a drinking game at home, or the type of movie people go to see to be wowed by the sheer amount of carnage on screen, it simply fails to live up to any measure of decency that any good movie should.

I was impressed by how much story the filmmakers manage to stuff into the film, but after an hour of watching a half baked storyline padded out with heavily effects driven action sequences, the film just became more boring than anything else. And for a movie that practically drowns in how much blood is spilled, that says a lot. After the opening scene, the film just fails to live up to its own desire to be a ridiculous actioner. It knows it has the ability to be the film that brings ninjas back to the box office in droves, but it lacks the capacity to go the distance and truly be that film. Some scenes are just so horribly written that one wonders why anyone ever thought it was a good idea to make this movie.

For anyone who argues that the action sequences that drive the film are what make the film acceptable, think again. These scenes are so effects heavy, so filled to the brim with CGI that I began questioning if Rain was a CGI character or not. I realize it is hard to make throwing stars fly through the air and look realistic when impaled into someone's chest or eye, but there must have been a much better way to put some of these action scenes together than like this. It just feels so haphazard, so badly choreographed. Remember when Bruce Lee and his stuntmen could pull sequences like these off in real life, without the aid of a computer? Remember when the Wachowskis made The Matrix back in 1999, with all the fight scenes and sparingly used CGI (well, at least in comparison to its two effects happy sequels)? Ninja Assassin is nothing like either of those examples, and it is a real disappointment as a result. Some of the movements and money shot-style deaths are simply incredible, but they lose their lasting effect because of how silly and fake some of the effects look.

Worse yet is the extremely obscene use of blood. Now I am not one to wince or be disgusted at the sight of a film simply filled to the top with blood. I adore Kill Bill: Volume 1 and had a great time watching the absurdly no-holds-barred ending of Rambo. But even at their silliest, the blood in those films stayed remotely realistic (key word being remotely), and was not overdone, as much of an oxymoron as that sounds. But Ninja Assassin cakes on the blood in every scene, ridiculously shooting out of every possible angle, in every possible direction. And none of it looks real. The scars and after effects of what causes the injuries this blood spills from are really well done, but every cause of injury is not. The blood is just too digitally animated for this kind of movie. It needs more in the way of realism, in these wonderful makeup effects. Hell, some of the shots are so dark and so quickly edited that it attempts to mask how horrible some of the blood effects look. Sure there are plenty of wow moments, but not enough for any of this overused CGI to be acceptable.

Getting into any pretense of discussing the acting is to acknowledge that there is, in fact, acting occurring during the film. Yes, Rain surprised me, but only because he spends most of the film grunting, yelling or staying mute. As for the rest of the cast, they either look uninterested, confused, or doing the same thing as Rain.

It simply boggles my mind to think Ninja Assassin was ever made at all. It has a really bad ass opening sequence, a few cool moments of action, but no other redeeming qualities. It does not even become so bad that it becomes good. It quite honestly, wallows away in silliness from beginning to end. I wish I could say this car crash of a film kept me mildly entertained, but even that is giving it too much credit.

2.5/10.

Bloody good entertainment

[paul_haakonsen · 8/10 · 16 February 2010]

This is by far the best ninja movie I have seen.

Right from the very beginning this movie is up in fast pace, action-filled and soaking in blood. There is a lot of bloodshed in this martial arts fest.

The story of the movie is good and keeps going at a good pace, so you never feel bored. Of course the story is straight forward and have no surprise twists to the plot - but an action movie of this caliber doesn't need plot twists.

The martial arts choreography and fighting scenes are brilliant, fast and hard punching. There are lots of really cool weapons being used in the movie as well.

There is just one bad thing to the movie, and that is why would an ancient clan of Japanese ninjas speak English? It makes no sense, as Japanese people are bound to traditions. But of course, I suppose this is kept in English to reach a wider audience. But had they actually done it in Japanese, there would be a much more wholesome feel to the movie. And also, again why would a Japanese clan take in non-Japanese children and train as ninjas?

Anyway, the cast of the movie is good, and it is refreshing to see new faces to the martial arts scene. The dialogue is straight to the point, no clumsy, half-hearted dialogue going on here, which also helps the movie to keep going.

So if you like ninja movies and action movies, this is definitely a movie you cannot allow to miss out on. Top notch action from beginning till end. But do take notice that there is a lot of blood in this movie!

Violent and gripping story with plenty of noisy action and struggles in a comic-book style

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 30 July 2020]

A young ninja named Rainzo (Rain) is trained since infancy to be a deadly murderer , but he turns his back on the orphanage that raised him , and nowadays he seeks vendetta for their merciless killers . As Raizo to return demanding vengeance but the Master (Japanese Chop-Socky expert Sho Koshugi) still pursues him . Along the way teaming up with Europol forensic Mika (Naomie Harris) who is under command his superior Maslow (Ben Miles) . Things go wrong when Rainzo is captured by Interpol and chained to a wall. At the end the terrible happenings leading to a lethal confrontation with a fellow ninja named (Rick Yune) from the clan and other Ninja assassins . Fear not the weapon but the hand that wields it. Raised to become an assassin... until betrayal made him a target. Prepare to enter a secret world of heartless assassins .A silent warrior . A deadly past . A lethal mission . Revenge will rise .From the shadow of the night, a warrior is born.

It's a westernized oriental action film with an interesting mingle of suspense , buddy movie , martial arts , sword-play , ancient ritual with typical code of honour and bloody combats . The plot is simple and plain , as Raizo/Rain's turned his back on the Ozunu clan that raised him , being forced into action and steadily butchering his relentless enemies , while inching ever closer to the long-awaited bloody reunion with the former master who trained him . This a nail-biting thriller with ustoppable action , including impressive fighting with a lot of blood and gore ; nevertheless , Korean pop star Rain had no martial-arts experience prior to shooting . It's a mindless but enjoyable for martial arts aficionados of the old style , but adding some new technical being made by means of wires , cables and digital computer generator . Abundant fists fights as swords struggles in which arms and body parts are slice off here and there and limbs are slit open everywhere or blasted apart . Of course , highlights of te film are the breathtaking and groundbreaking fights with lots of blood dropping here and there . Due to extreme violence, it was dramatically cut for its original theatrical release in some countries , which still garnered '18' certificates all around the world . The unrated version of the film features an infamous blood splatter , one of the major reasons this version of the film is more popular . Cruel and savage murders make only recommended for those adults no squeamish and with strong stomach enough to take it .

This film belongs to ¨Ninja sub-genre¨ that achieved splendor in the Eighties : The first movie was ¨Enter the Ninja¨ (81) by Menahem Golan with Franco Nero , Menahem Golan was director of the first film , and was to direct its sequel also , but shortly before production was to start he decided to turn over directing chores to Sam Firstenberg . It was followed by the martial arts features ¨Ninja II¨ or ¨Revenge of the Ninja¨ (1983) with Shô Kosugi , Keith Vitali , Kane Koshugi and ¨Ninja III , the domination¨ with Lucinda Dickey and again Sho Kosugi . These pictures were well produced by Cannon -Golan and Globus- and all rightly directed by Sam Firstenberg . Following others also directed by Sam Firstenberg for Golan-Globus' as ¨American Ninja¨ , ¨American Ninja II and III¨, ¨Forced vengeance (82)¨ and ¨Avening force (1986)¨ most of them starred by low-grade expert on karate genre and Ninja sub-genre Michael Dudikoff . Following in 2009 ¨Ninja I¨ by Isaac Florentine , along with ¨Ninja II¨with Scott Adkins and Kane Koshugi . However , filmmaker James McTiegue stated as main influences for the film Ninja Assassin the following cartoon movies or Anime : ¨Ninja Scroll¨ (1993) and ¨Samurai Champloo¨ (2004) .

It packs colorful , though dark cinematography Karl Walter Lindenlaub. As well as moving and rousing musical score by Ilan Eshkeri . The motion picture was professionally directed by James McTeigue . James , previously , was assistant direction of Wachowski brothers (Larry and Andy) , film producers in high budget along with another great producer , Joel Silver , shooting his big hit : ¨V for vendetta¨ and other succesess as ¨Survivor¨ , ¨The raven¨ and TV series as ¨Sense8¨ , ¨Marco Polo¨ and ¨Messiah¨. Rating : 6.5/10. Passable and entertaining . The fights , thrills and lots of action make this movie worth seeing .

Boring and disappointing

[moonis-mohammad · 1/10 · 28 November 2009]

I was expecting it to be cheesy action flick but it turned out to be boring and over the top.

The story moves slowly and ends with too much action to handle. The development of situation itself takes first half.

I was also disappointed with action. The blood in fight scenes splatter like tomato sauce every where and make no point at all for an action film.Most of the fight scenes have shown in dark which was hard to enjoy.

Actually, I was duped by the trailers running on television. I would rather suggest to stay away from this Asian infatuation of Hollywood and save your money.

Ninja KickAssassin!

[Syntax_Terror · 6/10 · 23 November 2009]

I had no expectations going into this movie except for a crap load of blood and guts and pure cheese. It delivered that and more. I think I expected a bit of a throwback to the classic 80s ninja movies but it really took it beyond that realm and made into something new and awesome.

Director James McTeigue (V For Vendetta) took a simple script and created a serious take on a laughable genre, providing great action scenes that made me actually clap out loud with the rest of the audience - an amazing feat if you consider the lack of any recognizable actors.

Probably the best ninja movie out there

[piyushjohri-02919 · 7/10 · 9 March 2021]

Intense, powerful action sequences with and without animation. Well written and directed plot. Animation is little tricky, sometimes it looses it's ease

lots of action and cartoonish gore

[MLDinTN · 6/10 · 29 September 2010]

This movie is for action fans. I guess they used a bunch of really fake looking blood to keep from getting an X rating for violence. I think it works, my only complaints were a lot of the fights were in the dark, so it was hard to see what was happening on camera. The movie is about a secret clan of ninja assassins that kill for the highest bidder. Raizo, whom was the best student, struck against his clan after they killed the girl he liked. Since then, he has been hunted by them, but since he is the best, he stays alive. Mika is investigation a murder and learns of the clan, which puts her at risk. Raizo saves her and the 2 join forces to defeat the clan. So, you get a lot of fights and slashes with swords. And it ends how one would expect.

FINAL VERDICT: Soley for action fans.

I don't know what to say

[alltimebest · 4/10 · 30 November 2009]

I feel that a 4 is generous for starters. Let's first of all start with the complete lack of plot. I mean these are the same guys that brought us V for Vendetta and then they give us this nonsense. The horrible plot which is usually forgivable in an action flick just feels so overplayed throughout the entire film. You also feel no connection to the characters at all. Frankly that's all you can even say about it.

The action is laughable and yea there is tons of gore but it looks so terribly fake you'll be laughing the entire time.

Frankly the best recommendation I can give is consider getting it on bluray if only to show off your home theater setup but most of the film is so dark its hard to even consider that.

I'm sorry if I seem harsh but this movie didn't even manage to keep me mildly entertained

Awesome

[T_h_e_Punisher · 9/10 · 27 January 2010]

After reading a couple of reviews, i was prepared to come out of the theatre disappointed, but what i saw on screen was a fantastic homage to a a genre that has become a bit of a joke... the Ninja is back! I cannot understand why this movie could get a negative review. You are paying money to watch a film about violent assassins and this is exactly what you get. Blood by the bucket load, dismemberment, decapitation, all the things you would expect from a Ninja movie. I would pay to watch this again, and can only hope that 18 rated movies are not a thing of the past, and that this one does well at the box office so a sequel can be made.

A must see.

Bloodiest Kung Fu Movie Ever

[view_and_review · 7/10 · 2 May 2018]

Without doubt this was the bloodiest ninja/kung fu movie I've ever seen.

A secret clan of ninjas--that has existed for centuries--globally commits assassinations for the fee of 100 pounds of gold. The ninjas are brought up as children in a rigorous, despotic, brutal environment where survival of the fittest means life or death and betrayal or escape mean certain death. Raizo (Rain) was one such child under the rule of a vicious leader until he made his escape.

For you kung fu heads out there; this movie had some good fight scenes. The biggest drawback is that many of them were at night and difficult to see.

For you kung fu heads that like to see bloody dismemberment; you'll get your fill.

The mortal blows that resulted in extreme blood spatter was really for the oohs and aahs. It was like they were saying, "This was an excellent ninja strike and this bucket of blood spewing everywhere is how you know."

A lot of the blood was in CGI form ala 300 and other movies which gives it a graphic novel feel but there were also the traditional blood scenes that--although unrealistic in the amount--were more realistic.

This was a fun and exciting movie that wasn't too deep and didn't give you much to think about. Just sit back, relax and let the fighting begin.

Made on a budget and boy it shows!

[joestank15 · 2/10 · 1 December 2009]

Ninja Assassin - In a continuing train of movie plots that take far longer than they should, an ancient clan of ninja offer their services as killers to whomever pays them 100 pounds of gold. I really shouldn't mention this, as it's a premise only mentioned in the film. There's absolutely no mentioned reason stated for why the ninjas go after the targets that they do but they have chosen to go after a Europol agent (Naomie Harris, thoroughly wasted) is beyond me. But rogue ninja Raizo (Rain, who's sort of like Seal what with no last name) is there to the rescue because his girl ninja was killed. Raizo carves his way through his brother ninjas to kill the master ninja.

If that sounded dumb, trust me. It's actually much dumber on screen. The really short version of this film is a poorly rendered CGI shruiken going through a leg and creating a geyser of blood. The ol' IQ takes a beating every time the word ninja is spoken. I know they actually exist, but this film makes a mockery of everything ninjitsu stands for. Make no mistake, this is bad cinema. It's not so-good-it's bad. This is just so bad any-amount-of-money-spent-is-too-much bad. I thought we were past this sh!t in the 80's with the Cannon Group Inc. (Cobra, American Ninja) but someone thought those days deserved an homage. That and director James McTeigue (V for Vendetta...boy does that hurt to write) watched a lot of animes and clearly missed the point of them. This cannot be the legacy of Ninja Scroll, an infinitely better way to spend two hours.

Everyone enjoys cartoons, but no one wants to see a bad cartoon come to life. And that's what Ninja Assassin is. Cartoonishly stiff dialogue. Ridiculous geysers of blood. Incomprehensible action and story. Poor characterization. Awful CGI. And an utter lack of interesting imagery. All of this and two hours = boredom. I could have put more effort into this review but for a film like this, why bother? I recall a similar experience last year with the hokey Punisher: War Zone. That film had an amateur writer and director. This film had a seasoned action director and a re-write by J. Michael Stracynski (of the amazing series Babylon 5). There's no excuse. Ben Miles's character says a variation of the same line at least four times. Rain says the same line several dozen times. And everyone won't stop talking about their hearts. The Wachowski siblings (producers) are earning themselves a reputation almost as dismal as M. Night Shyamalan.

D-

only 1 ninja was harmed during the making of this film, the rest of them were killed

[The-Arbiter · 8/10 · 25 November 2009]

First off I would like to say that anyone who thinks this movie sucks because it has very little plot is an idiot.

Now let me tell you what Ninja Assassin isn't.

Its not a serious thinking movie, it's not a Gandhi, it's not a Saw type movie.

And it isn't a Twilight that's for sure.

The reason why Ninja Assassin is so friggin cool is because you know that the people making this movie had one thing in mind... Have a ton of Ninjas kill each other. Ninja Assassin is a fun guys night out type movie, at least that's how I saw this movie. Though some people walked out booing I walked out cheering because I came in and honestly just wanted a huge body count and a ton of blood and boy did they deliver.

My only major critique was the CGI blood... Though there were gallons of it coming out they could have stepped it up some more...

In a way this movie was like Rambo...Equal budget of 50 million, unbelievable carnage and pure fun... But the difference is that its acrobatic, its hacking slashing, gallons of blood and Ninjas with blades on chains = )...

So all in all a solid 8/10 for me.

PS. Watch out for the opening scene and the police station scene because those scenes are epic awesome.

A real bloody mess, I enjoyed it though!

[GOWBTW · 7/10 · 13 December 2009]

I remembered seeing the "Enter The Ninja" preview back in 1980. But I had to wait till I was much older to see it. To me, that movie was tame, "Ninja Assassin" is hardcore! Here you have a young man who was raised in a orphanage that turns young men into lethal ninja assassins. In the later years, one of the orphans(Rain) decides to turn on everyone in the orphanage, and gets his chance of freedom. Since honing his skills, he makes himself known to the others by protecting one woman named Mika(Naomie Harris). She stumbles upon a secret which makes her a target for the ninjas, Razio must go through every length to make sure she lives. This movie to me is totally intense. There's plenty of action as well of violence and blood. The maiming and killings are indeeds extreme. Out of all the ninja movies I have seen, this one is tops of my list. I wouldn't want to miss this for the world. Ninjistsu has never been so hardcore like this one. So be on alert for "Ninja Assassin"! Rating 2.5 out of 5 stars!

Watch if you only care about action and NOTHING else

[Otte1 · 4/10 · 11 December 2020]

Pros 1. Gore..If you like gore there is are tons of it.

2. Action..there are tons of action.

Cons 1. The action is so very edited, you do not understand what is going on. I counted 11 edits in a 4 second scene. It is hard to enjoy the action when you are not sure who is fighting, how they are fighting or who is even winning.

2.Direction...movie jumps all over the place. Still not sure why anyone was doing anything. It was almost like they spent 90% of time crafting action scenes then came back and said let's insert dialogue.

3. Consistentcy....one moment the protagonist if having a hard time with one villain, next scene he is taking out 10+ with ease.

4. Power..not sure what the ninjas can or cannot do. Several scenes close to the end indicate they can do things that 'ninjas' (or anyone that is not part of the DC/Marvel universe) should not be able to to and it makes the movie cheesy.

Action, Action and Action

[sauravjoshi85 · 7/10 · 7 June 2021]

Ninja Assassin is an action movie directed by James McTeigue and stars Rain, Naomie Harris, Ben Miles, Rick Yune and Sho Kosugi.

If you are a fan of brutal, violent action movie and can watch the movie without any storyline or plot then this is the movie for you.

The movie can also be called as a revenge drama which is not been written and executed properly but still the hard core brutal action in the movie will not disappoint you.

Acting is average to good as there is not much scope of acting. Rain was flat faced throughout the movie although he was very effective and impressive in action scenes, Naomie Harris was good, Ben Miles was average, Rick Yune was good in action scenes.

Screenplay of the movie is fast paced but some action scenes are shot in dark hence would be difficult to understand. The screenplay gets slow in the middle but as soon as the movie reaches it's climax the movie again comes back on the track. The climax of the movie is violently effective.

Overall this is a pure action flick which has nothing but just action. A must watch action movie.

Pretty good ninja flick with large amount of gratuitous violence

[KineticSeoul · 6/10 · 15 February 2011]

This is a pretty good violent and gritty ninja flick that is worth seeing at least once. This does shows that ninjas are back in mainstream cinema and for good reason. The gratuitous action sequences are well done, although a bit too fast to catch what is really going on. But you will get tons of blood and decapitation and dismemberment in this, basically it's a ninja movie for adults. On a negative note the story seems to be a bit convoluted and all over the place and not for very good reasons either, which sort of makes the movie appear sloppy at times. The main plot though is about a ninja from a evil ninja clan that trains assassins goes rogue. The main reason why so many Asians decided to see this movie is because it has the K-pop artist Rain in this who plays the main character ninja who goes rogue in this. All I can say is he is decent, just not that good but he has the physique to physical strength and talent to play a ninja well. The story isn't anything that interesting, but the flashbacks are actually pretty cool to watch and in my opinion the best part about this movie. It would be nice if this movie earns enough money for a sequel cause it does have potential or at least for movie industries to not be afraid to make more rated 18 movies.

6.9/10