NINJA ASSASSIN MOVIE REVIEW - The Movie Messenger

South Korean Pop Singer Rain has revenge in his eyes in Ninja Assassin, an action romp directed by James McTeigue.  McTeigue is best known for his directorial debut the 2006 film, V for Vendetta.  Let’s see if he doesn’t catch the case of the sophomore curse.

Ninja Assassin is about Raizo (Rain), a ninja who was trained since childhood by the mythical Ozuna Clan to be a killer.  He has become the world’s deadliest assassin, and after the death of his close friend and love interest Kiriko, he turns his back on the clan and desires vengeance. 

Of course, that’s what the movie is supposed to be about, but you wouldn’t know it until halfway through, which is when Ninja Assassin starts making any sense.  Most of the movie is an abundance of fight scenes and bloody kills for almost no reason, until of course, you somewhat realize what the story, or lack thereof, is about. 

Among this mess is another plot involving two members of the European Union Criminal Intelligence Agency, Mika Coretti (Naomi Harris) and her boss Ryan Maslow (Ben Miles), who investigate the Ozuna Clan, linking them to some murders.  Their plotline mostly exists so there can be flashbacks of how Raizo came to be, but these characters and plotline are totally unnecessary.  If you cut them out of the story entirely, we would have had a story about a ninja that came to be, vowed for revenge, and followed his desires to do so.  These characters are only interruptions to what the audience really wants to know about. 

Many may argue that going to a movie like Ninja Assassin isn’t about seeing a story, but I beg to differ.  There is a story in this movie somewhere, almost like it got lost, because as a viewer, I felt like I was searching for it. 

So you see this movie for fight scenes, okay.   The action sequences are very entertaining if you enjoy over the top blood and gore, but be warned, this isn’t Kill Bill quality.  The blood effects are in the likes of Mortal Kombat, they are excessive and animated, literally.  I could have swore they did these blood effects on Adobe After Effects.  Also, the editing during the fight scenes were way too quick (almost like Bourne Ultimatum fast) and take away from the action.  This Rain really knows his martial arts, but the fast editing took away his chance to shine. 

The funny thing is I had fun at this movie because after I realized how bad it was, I just went along with it and didn’t take it seriously.  This is the kind of movie you go to if you want to turn your brain off and just watch people fight, get sliced up, and blow shit up. 

But be warned, it is totally ridiculous.