Congratulations, gentlemen. After months of suffering through all those wretched date-night chick flicks this year, your revenge has finally arrived. Now that New Line Cinema’s final theatrical releases are being distributed by Warner Bros. I hope this means that with the recent success of The Final Destination (the fourth and supposed “final” installment in spite of being the highest grossing yet), and what the filmmakers of Ninja Assassin (both Warner Bros. films) have unleashed upon us, this new blood gets my vote as to who should be placed in charge of a fifth Final Destination.

Producers Joel Silver and the Wachowski Brothers, along with director James McTeigue, aren’t necessarily known for bringing forth a bloodbath such as the likes of their new film, Ninja Assassin, but it definitely gives most gore fests a clear run for their money. Yes, it is a video game adaptation but all’s fair when you think a scene can’t possibly become any more gruesome then along comes another whizzing throwing star or swishing katana sword to slice another limb and spill gallons of blood.

In case you were ever wondering just how much blood the human body contains do not look to this film for answers. Every wound and lopped off appendage sprays a never-ending fountain of bright red blood. Coagulates are at an all-time low and the film feels more like an Americanized remake of Ichi the Killer from one of Japan’s busiest directors, cult favorite Takashi Miike.

The filmmaking assemblage here could possibly result in Miike having to make something even more outlandish as the ante has been upped considerably. Any filmmakers who cut from blood beginning to drip from a dryer to ketchup squirted upon a batch of French fries have their own sense of humor about them and I’m more than happy to share it.

The opening scene sets an immediate tone as a group of goofy Yakuza boys are hanging out while one is being tattooed. A sealed envelope is delivered full of black sand which immediately catches the attention of the old man delivering said tattoo. He delivers a speech warning the young men that the last time he saw that type of envelope he only survived the blood-soaked attack due to a convenient birth defect which caused his heart to develop in the wrong spot (and if you think that won’t rear its head again before the show's over you are far from the target demographic).

A quick attack nastily disposes of everyone, including the man whose heart’s on the wrong sleeve, which is brought to the attention of Berlin-stationed Europol agent Mika (Naomie Harris) who’s also discovered a money trail linking numerous political assassinations to an underground society of assassins. She brings this to the attention of her superior and confidante Ryan Maslow (Ben Miles) who at first doesn’t believe her until Mika is attacked herself after searching through secret files given to her by the wife of one of the assassination victims.

Article Author: Cinenerd

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