Only a ninja can destroy a ninja.

Ninja Assassin.

When you say the word “Ninja” it conjures up an image of a Japanese guy in all black with a katana (sword), and Ninja Stars (shuriken), who can disappear, climb walls, AND kill you in 100 different ways, and if you really know your stuff, you may even conjure up an image of Sho Kosugi.

Well if you thought of any or all of those things, then Ninja Assassin is the movie for you. Wait, did J-man, just say ALL of those things…but he said Sho Kosugi…THAT’S RIGHT!!!!

SHO KOSUGI is in this, and not only is he the trainer and father of the Ninja’s, he’s also the main villain in the piece and has equal screen time with the good guys! That there, may be enough to see this movie.

But there’s more…if gore is your thing, then this also delivers. Think Kill Bill, but in every scene! At times it’s almost laughable, but I think they want you to laugh! At one point Riso (rise-o – played by popstar Rain) gets his stomach and chest cut open and the lead girl is trying to make this big metaphor or something…I was like “the man has no stomach! I don’t think he cares right now!"

Also, Ninja stars. Not sure what you all think of them, but in this movie they are treated as bullets. Every time someone turns a corner, there are 1000 Ninja stars thrown at them! At one point the girl’s car is attacked by Ninja Stars and her entire bloody car is filled with them. Like she is driving a spiked car from Road Warrior. The amount of Ninja’s in this movie is also crazy! And the amount of physical damage that Riso sustains is bloody (and I mean bloody) crazy! I have never in my life seen a man take so much punishment. And I know I mentioned the gore, but my god man! It’s worse than Friday the 13th, if you watched Friday the 13th 5 times in a row!

That being said, it’s not all good. The Ninja’s (true to form) attack in the dark, so all the fights are at night and you cant see what’s going on, unless you really focus. Also the storyline is pretty lame, and the non-Ninja characters are really whatever.

The high points are Sho, and Rain (he was cool) and the Ninja stars and gore.

But I would’ve traded 60% of the gore to see more of the fighting.

3.5/5

J-Man