I don’t think I could have chosen a better movie to kick off my first
review on The Reel Place than this. To give you a little synopsis on
what this movie is all about, the title really says it all, “Ninja Assassin”.
The
story follows a man named Raizo (Rain) who was trained since birth to
become a ninja by a secretive and mythical clan called the Ozunu. The
whole purpose of the clan is to raise orphans to become paid assassins
for governments and the people of the world that can afford them. Raizo
was their best and most promising child but certain events cause the
crap to hit the fans leaving Raizo no choice but to escape the clan and
plot his revenge.
The movie has a sub story where in Berlin, Mika Coretti (Naomie Harris)
works as a reporter and has been compiling evidence to expose the Ozunu
clan’s existence. Intertwined by fate these two characters lives
collide and massive amounts of carnage ensues.
This movie truly isn’t for people with weak stomachs. It is jam packed
with some of the goriest scenes you will have ever seen and honestly,
the only reason why this movie probably didn’t have an NC-17 rating is
because it is about ninjas and has a somewhat surreal feel to it. From
the very opening scene it will rattle your soul with how inexcusably
limitless they take the violence and just when you think they can’t top
that, they do.
I personally loved this movie but I think I loved it because of the
mind set I had going into it. Obviously, you can not expect to see Ninja Assassin nominated for best screenplay. The story isn’t the best
and it moves very rapidly. Mika moves from lead-to-lead at an
incredible pace uncovering the secrets of a clan that has been hidden
for generations nearly effortlessly but then again, when has any
martial arts film had a great plot? Who really sees these films for the
story?
The acting is also pretty poor from nearly everyone involved but once
again, is all that talking really necessary? Who needs to talk when
you’re gouging somebody’s organs out with a sword? My conclusion is
this, if what you want is a fun night out watching some crazy special
effects, jaw dropping martial arts, and some awesomely-offensive
amounts of gore, this is the movie for you. That my friends, is my two
cents.
Photo credit: Warner Bros.
