Ninja Assassin Review

Ninja Assassin is the latest project from the Wachowski Brother's (The Matrix, V For Vendetta, Speed Racer) staring Korean pop star Rain, who plays a ninja who is on the run from the Ozunu Clan (who took him in as a child) after he refused to kill a deserter, instead attacking the clan's leader, meanwhile two agents from Europol try to link a series of assassinations to the clan, both unaware that their paths will cross.

For those unaware as to how Ninja Assassin came about, it was actually due to the kids film Speed Racer (which producers The Wachowski Brothers directed) the brothers were impressed by the martial arts skills of Rain (who plays lead character Raizo in Ninja Assassin) that they wanted to do a film which was utilised martial arts in a way that The Matrix didn't.

For a film that was designed to highlight Rain's skills as a martial artist and actor and with a script which was reportedly written in 53 hours you'd be forgiven for thinking that it was one of those B-Movies that would have been better off being a direct-to-DVD.

Instead we get a film which blends the Martial Arts sensibilities of betrayal and revenge with the conspiracy film that finds a couple of people in law enforcement (in this case agents from Europol) trying to uncover the truth behind so many assassinations over the years and thereby becoming targets themselves with former ninja Raizo being the only one who can really put a stop to the Ozunu Clan (isn't it always the way eh?) It's a real hit or miss combination as though the film is trying to work out whether it is a martial arts film or a conspiracy/cop thriller, though the martial arts tends to win out more often than not.

The first half of the film is quite possibly the most frustrating part with Raizo's past interwoven with the main plot of the film and while it is an interesting way to tell Raizo's back story it often feels disjointed as though you're flipping through channels between Raizo's plot to his past to the plot involving Europol agent Ryan Maslow (Ben Miles) and Forensic Researcher Mika Coretti (Naomie Harris).



The martial arts scenes are fantastically choreographed and the weapon work is a real highlight with weapons such as the double bladed katana and a kyoketsu shoge (which is a double edged blade attached to a long chain) rarely seen in these types of films and thus giving the film a unique style. There's also a nice use of almost 'bullet time' style slow motion used when the kyoketsu shoge. However these scenes are hindered by the overuse of 'CGI gore' which is extremely noticeable and at times over the top. As this is a film about ninjas, the vast majority of the action takes place under the cloak of darkness, making the fight scenes slightly difficult to follow at times however there are instances in the film where the dark action scenes are used in a smart way such as Raizo in ninja garb fighting another ninja in Mika's blackout hit apartment and the only way you can tell there is a fight going on is through the sounds of metal clashing there is a nice use of effects when ninjas blur into the shadows really building on that mythos that ninjas were at one with the shadows.



While it does boast a cliched martial arts ending of student versus master the final battle has an unexpected vibe to it going for an all guns blazing approach on top of the martial arts. Ninja Assassin is an enjoyable film and while some of the Europol scenes seem to be filler to pad out the story, the action (or at least the action which isn't cloaked in too much darkness) more than makes up for it. Rain plays a convincing Raizo and there are times when it looks as though he has done more martial arts films (this is only his third film). It's refreshing to see a western made martial arts film which isn't comedic or features a lackluster and overdone story, instead we get this film with great moves and a good unique storyline.