Media

Home Theater Movie Renter's Guide - April, 2010

"Ninja" (Blu-ray) - Reviewed by Tyler Stripko

Synopsis

Casey (Scott Adkins) is an orphaned American training to be a ninja at a secret school in Japan.   His prowess puts him at direct odds with Masazuka (Tsuyoshi Ihara) for the master’s favor.  Masazuka is banished from the school after attempting to kill Casey, and promises revenge.  Sensing that Masazuka will one day return to steal the ninja clan’s precious heirlooms, the master sends the chest of regalia to New York for safe keeping.  After raiding the school, Masazuka learns of the treasure’s location and sets off to reclaim what he feels is rightfully his.

 

Commentary

As with most “straight to video” releases, I wasn’t expecting much out of this film.  The plot was weak and the acting was poor.  The criminal gang that assists Masazuka was totally unnecessary to the story and just further increased the “cheesiness” of the film.  The special effects were laughable, particularly the overdone blood splatters that run rampant throughout the fight scenes.  However, the fight scenes themselves were surprisingly well done and there are a ton of them throughout the movie.   If you like low-budget B-movie martial arts flicks, this may be right up your alley.

Technical

Despite the low-budget nature of the rest of the film, the technical quality was surprisingly good.  The image was sharp, with fairly accurate color tone and good black levels.  The sound was even more impressive, with good use of the surrounds and some very powerful bass.  Personally, I thought that the bass was a bit too boomy in relation to dialogue levels and I found myself constantly altering the volume level during my viewing.

Extras

The only extras on this disc are a few previews – that’s it.