Movie Review: Ninja Assassin

Please, do not misunderstand what I am about to say and think this movie was bloody. After all, this movie has a healthy dose of Ben Miles, whom you might remember from his role as Patrick in the British sitcom Coupling.

I mean, sure, the opening scene where Raizo (Rain) wipes out a gang for no apparent reason is pretty bloody, with severed arms, legs, heads, trunks, and just general spurts of blood fill the screen.

And then there is the bloody training scene.

And the random fight with the other ninja in the laundromat...that has lots of blood.

And the bloody eating scene.

And the other bloody training scene.

Oh, yeah, and then the scene where he is trying to sleep has the bloody feet.

And then there is that one training scene that is pretty bloody.

And of course his first assassination...that one is extremely bloody.

Oh, I almost forgot the other training scene...I guess it was pretty bloody too, now that I think about it.

And the scene where Raizo turns on his master...it is pretty bloody.

And the scene where he is in prison....that is blood-drenched as well.

Oh, and the final battle has more than its share of blood...


On the bright side, you are unlikely to get too lost in the uncomplicated plot. Raizo was going to be the perfect Ninja until Kiriko (Anna Sawai, Kylie Goldstein) shows him he has a heart. When she is killed by the clan, he decides to wreak vengeance on them.

Now that we have the plot out of the way, it is one fight scene after another.

Unfortunately, they went so heavily on the "Ninjas fight in shadows" theme that is becomes a series of flickering movements in the shadows followed by fountains of blood. At times you are not extremely sure if they really needed actors for this movie.

By the time it is over, you figure you have seen your share of blood for the decade, but still are unfulfilled if you thirst for a good fighting movie.

So-so story, few good lines of sight in combat scenes, and a pedestrian ending leave this one for the Netflix pile.