Ninja Assassin (2009)

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Completely underrated action masterpiece. Certainly not for the faint of heart... hehe. Blood and guts everywhere! Totally badass. RESPECT THE NINJA!>.<

Artistically filmed, at times beautiful, old school style martial arts movie, sounds like it would be aimed at a young audience. I mean, it has the word "ninja" in the title, right? But I must say, this is among the most violent movies I have seen, at least mainstream films. Even though some might argue that it is more "cartoon violence," or that it's only "CGI blood," you get endless scenes of decapitations, people getting their heads beat in, stabbings, shootings, etc..and a LOT of violent scenes involving children, beating each other to bloody pulp. It's probably not a good film for people under the age of 16. That being said, "Ninja Assassin" is much better than most expected it to be. Very non-Hollywood, the action is set in Berlin, and the flashback scenes, that represent a good portion of the film, are set in a remote Japanese training school in the mountains. These scenes are really beautifully photographed, and much time and detail is put into setting up the background story of Raizo, the Ninja who was a child orphan, kidnapped and kept hidden from the world, in a remote compound with other children. There the kids are trained by the sinister Ozunu, to be soulless killing machines. The training is brutal and relentless, and the ones who survive it, grow to be the Ninja assassins. However young Raizo, (played by the physically incredible Rain) manages to hold onto his humanity, and eventually grows to turn against the Ozunu clan; and because of this, he is hunted like a wild animal by the old Ozunu, who fears he will expose their highly secret society of killers. That is the basic premise of this very solid martial arts/action epic. And it is an adrenaline fueled movie to be sure, with the life or death chase at the heart of the film. As mentioned, this movie seems to be made outside of Hollywood's influence, which is evident in the wonderful detail paid to ancient Japanese customs, stunning, almost poetic cinematography, and the fact that the violence is so gut wrenching, that it's obvious they were not going for some money making PG-13 production. "Ninja Assassin" is the best action/fantasy movie of 2009, even though it didn't have a large audience. But this is a film that has gained a serious cult following over the years, and will most likely be enjoyed by those who appreciate the martial arts films from the 70's and 80's. Excellent, operatically bloody genre masterpiece.

There is so much blood that you can not see very well about the story in general. There are no nuances, but viscera exploding on the screen. The scenes in which there is a beating in children, in which the master clearly strikes the childhood of orphaned children, are revolting. Only for those with a strong stomach.

Raizo (Rain) is a ninja assassin trained since childhood. He has since rejected the clan-centric organization that dismisses individuality. Europol agent Mika Coretti (Naomie Harris) has a theory about ninjas doing assassinations and her boss Ryan Maslow (Ben Miles) is reluctant to believe her. The clan has become killers for hire.There is a lot of slice and dice action. It's filmed well but that is the only worthwhile thing in this movie. The plot is nothing. Rain is a Korean popstar who has learned from the Keanu Reeves school of acting. Naomie Harris is nothing special. There is no chemistry and limited showcase for any acting abilities. By the last act, even the slice and dice action gets boring.