Do you remember the 1980s? It was an era of action movies from Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, and Steven Seagal. These were not the best actors, but they didn't try to be. Their films were meant to entertain us with fight choreography, slow motion, and tough guy characters. Movies like Bloodsport and Hard Target, Above the Law and Marked for Death, Universal Soldier and Showdown in Little Tokyo — they all had a simple premise and you knew what you were in for going in.
Now we live in an age where direct-to-DVD isn't necessarily the kiss of death. Movies like Fight Night and Smokin' Aces 2: Assassin's Ball prove that you can produce great movies without having a huge budget and still get them out to an audience that will appreciate them. Unfortunately, not every movie can be a masterpiece. And the direct-to-DVD market still has some stinkers.
Ninja stars Scott Adkins as Casey and Tsuyoshi Ihara as Masazuka, two martial arts students learning the ways of the ninja in a remote dojo in Japan. When Masazuka breaks the rules and attacks Casey with a real sword (not a wooden one) during a demonstration, he is kicked out of the school to find his own way. Like any bad seed, he finds his way back again to take his revenge and take the ancient ninja treasures locked in an ancient box. Casey must stop his old school mate from taking what isn't his.
The plot isn't anything we haven't seen before, going back to the Ninja and American Ninja movies of the 1980s, which I have to admit I watched as I was growing up. Back then the good guys even wore white ninja apparel sometimes to set them apart from the bad ninjas, who always wore black. No such luck in this film.
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Article comments
1 - Waleed Al-Telbany
Correction: - Jean-Claude Van Damme is actually one of the best actors. I am not talking about his action, I am also talking about his performance as a dramatic actor. I find him a great actor since Double Impact (nobody can play dual roles as good as him). And for your info he won Best Actor Awards so many times. Check his IMDB profile. Thanks!
2 - Fitz
@Waleed Al-Telbany - I respectfully disagree, but that's what makes an appreciation for the arts (including motion pictures) so wonderful. Each of us is entitled to our own opinion. But thanks for the feedback!