Ninja Assassin review and why it ain't getting the love it should.

Yeah I know, probably a little late to the review table on this one but I do have a life.

Sort of.

Anyways, finally got to check out this flick and well... it's about a good ninja that kills a lot of bad ninjas.

How could that not be awesome?

Alright, alright, I'll go a little more in depth.

Raizo (South Korean entertainer Rain) is a ninja. Been raised from birth to be a ninja. He's pretty damn good at it. Unfortunately due to a female ninja, Raizo is a ninja with a heart. And when you kill dozens of people with throwing stars, having feelings is not a good thing.

So Raizo goes off the reservation, betrays his clan and starts knocking them off.

Mika (Naomie Harris from Pirates of the Carribean and 28 Days later) is a Europol agent (more less a librarian) that has discovered ninjas exist and they kill people.

Coincidental, the most bad ass of the clans she learns about is the same one Raizo was from.

Bad ninjas go after her, he goes after them.

The movie ain't rocket science.

But it is awesome.

The best way to explain it is it's like watching a live action anime. It's like a live action modern Ninja Scroll but with better English dialogue. People not only get cut up they get vivisected. Kudos to everyone involved in the film for somehow getting the ratings people in the states to give you an R. You made Quentin Tarrantino jealous.

I enjoyed the crap out of this film.

So why am I alone here?

I'm surprised by the fact that the geek media hasn't embraced this film as much as I have. Aint It Cool seems to be the only one who has really acknowledge it and the reviews have been mixed.

I know this movie is not high art but it's a lot of fun.

I think part of the problem is the Wachowski Brothers.

While they are only producers on this goreific title, their name is floated around more then director James McTeigue and quite frankly, they've got three bad movies to their credit that they have yet to make up for with the Fan Boy public and I think it's being unfairly taken out on this film.

Yes the two sequels to The Matrix were crap but you can't blame them if you thought that Speed Racer was going to be awesome. If I've said once, I've said it a dozen times, you can't turn shit into chocolate. Speed Racer was never a good cartoon, why did you think the movie might be?

Beyond that, the Wachowski's don't suck up to the fan boy crowd. They don't do interviews (for various reasons) or press of any kind and while I agree they have a right to privacy, I think this overall lack of communication from them is starting to hurt.

Their last batch of films (and while better received, V for Vendetta had it's detractors) have gotten reamed by critics on all sides and due to their press stance, it almost appears they don't care. If they really believed in a film wouldn't they at least come out with a press release saying "Fuck you Entertainment Weekly!"?

And it's not fair.

For an action film, this movie is great. It's not too long, gets to the point and you get exactly what you order.

So if you are a fan of anime or of action in general, highly recommended.

And in the meantime, here's a dance off between Rain and Colbert.

080505 Rain dance-off with Stephen Colbert
by lunaluna_rain