Mask of the Ninja (2008)

Simply Perfect

As Good As It Gets

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

MASK OF THE NINJA is a modern attempt to breathe life into the ninja genre, which has been dormant since the mid-to-late '80s. That it is only moderately successful is really down to the production company behind it, the same guys who also made KUNG FU KILLER and STREET WARRIOR. A low budget and TV movie atmosphere don't add much to the fun of the thing, but it is quite an entertaining little movie, even in a bad way. The ninjas themselves are probably the worst aspect of the production. Instead of lean, stealthy, Japanese warriors, these are heavy Americans who wander down the street without attracting attention. They look like guys with balaclavas wearing boiler suits instead of the age-old assassins they're supposed to represent.Still, they don't skimp on the throwing stars and killing methods, which means this is a film with plenty of cheesy action. There are a handful of standout moments and the action-packed ending is fairly decent, with lots of sword impalement. I loved the shot where the ninjas burst through a glass wall right behind Van Dien and stick a star in his arm. There are also a couple of other stand-out moments, including a grisly massacre in a police station that recalls THE TERMINATOR, except that it's even more violent. The director seems to go out of his way to show the innocent being slain in gruesome ways (throat slashing, etc.) but one beef I have is that you never see the ninjas die gorily, and that's the fun of genre classics like MAFIA VS. NINJA.Speaking of gore, this is a pretty gruesome little film, and there's one memorable torture scene that seems to come straight out of HOSTEL: PART II as one poor sod is strung up, bloodied with knives and then castrated by a sadistic Asian girl. It doesn't have much to do with the rest of the film, it's just thrown in to shock the viewer. The cast are pretty decent for a TV movie, with Kristy Wu proving an attractive damsel-in-distress and Casper Van Dien a square-jawed action hero who regularly comes near to death in his battles with the deadly elite (no Seagal shrugging away of bullets here). Sadly, the frenzied fight editing tries to emulate Bourne and comes off severely the worst for it, sometimes leaving the viewers scratching their heads and wondering what the heck is going on.

It is a ninja movie so I had not expected a movie worth Einstein.But to be honest this movie is more focused on the romance between some white cop that acts pretty awful and the ninja target than giving us good fights and deaths.Every time you get to a fight it is impossible to follow what is happening because camera angle shifts every 2 seconds. Sometimes you see several different fights at one time that they mix together. Most definitely the worst action filming I have ever seen. Why watch a ninja movie if not for the fighting scenes? Anthony Wong did an alright acting performance as the only one, but I have no idea about how his martial arts skills are as the director did not find that interesting to include in this movie.If you want to see a better ninja movie choose any movie with the word ninja in the title. Even chose a Meryl Streep movie.Not the worst story or acting I have seen, but giving it 1 star is very generous as it is a ninja movie with completely spoiled action scenes every time.

I have been starved of ninja movies for a long time, so when this movie was broadcast I decided to give it a chance, despite the fact it starred Casper Van Dien and that it was made for television. However, I thought the movie pretty much failed for several reasons: (1) The movie often has an ugly visual look to it. Whoever did the lighting and cinematography should have been fired (2) It looks cheap. The production values look more like those from a low-budget action television show from the '80s or '90s.(3) The fight scenes are horrible. Not only are they badly choreographed, but they have been directed with "flashy" techniques like extreme close-ups and jerky camera movements that make the fights next to impossible to make out.(4) The boredom factor. The lead was dull, though considering it was Van Dien that should not have been a surprise. But his part was written dull as well. And the whole plot about what the bad guys were looking for (and why) took so long to be revealed that I almost fell asleep.(5) Incomprehensible stuff. There's one fight scene where the bad guy ninjas hear sirens from approaching cops. Cut to the next scene, and they are far away safe. How the heck did they escape? (6) Stupid stuff.A bulletproof vest may save your life, but a bullet fired into one will STILL HURT A LOT - and these ninjas get shot in the vest several times in one scene! I advise you to wait for the Isaac Florentine movie NINJA instead. I haven't seen it, but Florentine has proved to be good with action, and the production company has a reputation for slick low-budget films. Until then, re-rent American NINJA 2 and REVENGE OF THE NINJA instead of seeing this made-for-TV travesty.

By the numbers action starring Caper Van Dien as a cop trying to protect Miko from a group of ninjas who have killed her father and have their sights and her. Nominal ninjas meet regular cops movie is strictly fantasy but it is okay in a turn the brain off sort of way. The over weight and out of shape ninjas are rather silly and most of the performances of the cast are pure B or C grade material. What works here is Van Dien as the hero. He brings a level of gravity to the proceedings that few in the cast do. You watch the film because he single handedly sells the nonsense going on around him. I've seen any number of his films over the years and it finally hit me that he's always good and always game. Certainly the material isn't the best but he manages to sell the material which is why I'm guessing he's making movies. Mask of the Ninja, which was apparently shot with TV in mind, is an okay time killer. I know the fact that I completely blanked on the film until I saw the case again isn't a good sign, however it's mitigated by the fact that when I did see it I was of the opinion "Why didn't I remember that it was pretty good." . I'd give it a shot on a night you want a fluffy something that won't stick to your brain.