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It’s often been said that you can’t just a book by its cover—but you might also say that you can’t judge a movie by its title. Because when I first heard of director James McTeigue’s Ninja Assassin, I may have laughed. After all, for most of us here in North America, ninjas have become almost comical characters—or, at the very least, action clichés. So the title conjured up all kinds of images of silent guys in black, battling a wise-cracking Jackie Chan kind of hero. But don’t be fooled; Ninja Assassin is no Jackie Chan martial arts movie.
When Europol forensic researcher Mika Coretti (Naomie Harris) uncovers information that could connect a number of political assassinations to a secret clan of ninja warriors, she puts herself—and Agent Ryan Maslow (Ben Miles)—in serious danger.
Fortunately, though, there’s one ninja who’s fighting against the others. Raizo (played by Korean pop star Rain) was raised by the Ozunu Clan and trained to be a ruthless assassin. But after witnessing his best friend’s execution, he left the clan behind.
Now, Raizo is determined to protect those who are trying to uncover the truth. To do so, though, he’ll have to battle his brothers—and even the man who raised him.
Light on plot and heavy on gore, Ninja Assassin is an adrenaline junkie’s dream. It’s loaded with haunting training sequences and highly stylized fight scenes. But ninjas are phantom-like characters, so their battles always take place in dark alleys and abandoned warehouses—which means that the breath-taking martial arts action isn’t shown in the crisp detail that you might expect. It’s probably best that way, though—because, wherever the ninjas go, they leave truckloads of blood and random body parts in their wake.
Even the strongest of stomachs are likely to fall victim to the non-stop, blood-spurting (and usually totally unnecessary) violence of Ninja Assassin—and I don’t say that lightly. It is, without a doubt, the bloodiest film I’ve seen in years. In fact, I’m pretty sure that this film may have single-handedly kept the fake blood industry in the black during the recession. So if you have a weak stomach, be warned: you won’t survive the opening credits.
Of course, with all those fight scenes and training sequences, there isn’t a whole lot of time left over for things like plot. So if you like your action films to have a bit of a story to them, you’ll be disappointed by Ninja Assassin. Though the modern, European twist is interesting, the storyline is weak at best—and it’s loaded with holes. The film does, however, take some time to develop its shadowy (and mostly silent) main character. As Raizo prepares for battle, he reflects on his experiences in the clan—which offers just enough background information to set him up as worthy hero. Mostly, though, it’s just fun to watch this captivating (and oh-so-cool) star as he prepares for battle against the dark and deadly bad guys.
Don’t expect a whole lot of slapstick laughs from this ninja movie. Ninja Assassin definitely isn’t for the weak of stomach—and the story is about as sturdy as the victim of a ninja attack—but this ultra-violent, blood-drenched thriller is still quite a sight to behold. Just be sure to proceed with extreme caution.
