Mediocre ninja action flick from prolific low-budget action director Herman Yau (DATING DEATH, CITY COP), suffers from low budget and low ambitions, but it's entertaining all the same. Rival Ninja factions seek opposing alliances while immersed in intrigue over possession of a secret formula that will cure disease. There's some pretty good swordplay and nicely choreographed action sequences - and the girls are mighty cute - but it's all very perfunctory and devoid of a really interesting directorial style. The characterizations are nicely developed and well performed, especially a romeo&juliet love triangle between two of the opposing force ninjas.
2 Reviews
Story is weak..but the action? DEFINITELY not!
plsletitrain4 August 2010
Warning: Spoilers
This is one good ninja film from this decade. If you're looking for some mind-boggling, unpredictable, never-before-seen storyline, this one's not for you. Story is not a strength of this movie. However, if you want some mind-blowing ninjutsu, then this one you'll surely like. I don't think the actors themselves practice or has experience with regard to ninjutsu or has some background in martial arts(like those who are highly-regarded in this field such as Sonny Chiba or Sho Kosugi probably) but they seem to have done a clean job with this one.
Story revolves around a box which contain some powerful vaccine. Dr. Kikuchi, the proponent of this highly-coveted vaccine has it in his possession when he was apprehended by a guy named Brian who wants the vaccine for his personal gain. Brian employed the services of a ninja by the name of Tora(Koga clan). He successfully kills Dr. Kikuchi but problem is, he can't open the box. The doctor's head was preserved and then(sidenote:this part I found ridiculous) they were able to gather from his brain cells the last thought he had before he died. They found out that the last thought on his head was "Kill Copy". This statement was subject to two interpretations. Brian's group thought he meant Dr. Kikuchi wanted a person named Copy to be dead. They thought that Copy was the solution for opening the box. The Iga clan, to which Dr. Kikuchi belonged to, thought that the latter meant to delete all possible copies for the vaccine. This one was the more logical/reasonable interpretation, imo.
Anyway, so Brian searched for Copy(a musician). Only he can open the box to reveal the vaccine inside it. But of course, the Iga clan was there to protect him. He decided to stay with the Iga clan and was able to meet female ninja friends(Hibiki-the "red" ninja and Xiao Ling-the "green" ninja). Some emotional appeal of the story can be seen from the part where Hibiki and Tora--from rival clans and Tora tasked to kill Copy--has feelings for the other. It was one of the highlights of the movie aside from the usual learning-the-ways-of-a-ninja part in the movies.
It turns out that Copy never really knew how to open the box until he exhausted his braincells trying to figure out some encounter with Dr. Kikuchi. At first, I thought it was a bit far-fetched as to why would the doctor choose a tune/hum, by some musician playing on the street to be the key to open the box but then it could be argued that he probably really wanted to keep the box as safe and secured as possible. And then here's another question:if he didn't inform Copy as to the existence of the box, why would he want to kill Copy as his last thought before he died? Why would someone, at the brink of his death, think of killing the person who's a solution to something that he wants to keep safe? Shouldn't his last thought involve about some idea on how to save himself from death or something along those lines?Why would Dr. Kikuchi want to kill Copy when in the first place he never informed Copy of the existence of the box? Well that's why I said that it was more reasonable/logical that what he actually meant was to delete the copies. But remember that it was Brian who interpreted it to mean about the killing of Copy. From Brian's standpoint, he just presumed that Copy really knew how to open the box. And what a great coincidence that Copy turns out to be a name of a person and not just that, he was the key to open the box! Wow. Yeah I like answering my own questions.lol.
So all in all, if you want just some action(then again, no one's expecting to cry and go emotional with a title "Lethal Ninja" right??) then this one will do. It is noticeably low-budgeted but it's tolerable.
Story revolves around a box which contain some powerful vaccine. Dr. Kikuchi, the proponent of this highly-coveted vaccine has it in his possession when he was apprehended by a guy named Brian who wants the vaccine for his personal gain. Brian employed the services of a ninja by the name of Tora(Koga clan). He successfully kills Dr. Kikuchi but problem is, he can't open the box. The doctor's head was preserved and then(sidenote:this part I found ridiculous) they were able to gather from his brain cells the last thought he had before he died. They found out that the last thought on his head was "Kill Copy". This statement was subject to two interpretations. Brian's group thought he meant Dr. Kikuchi wanted a person named Copy to be dead. They thought that Copy was the solution for opening the box. The Iga clan, to which Dr. Kikuchi belonged to, thought that the latter meant to delete all possible copies for the vaccine. This one was the more logical/reasonable interpretation, imo.
Anyway, so Brian searched for Copy(a musician). Only he can open the box to reveal the vaccine inside it. But of course, the Iga clan was there to protect him. He decided to stay with the Iga clan and was able to meet female ninja friends(Hibiki-the "red" ninja and Xiao Ling-the "green" ninja). Some emotional appeal of the story can be seen from the part where Hibiki and Tora--from rival clans and Tora tasked to kill Copy--has feelings for the other. It was one of the highlights of the movie aside from the usual learning-the-ways-of-a-ninja part in the movies.
It turns out that Copy never really knew how to open the box until he exhausted his braincells trying to figure out some encounter with Dr. Kikuchi. At first, I thought it was a bit far-fetched as to why would the doctor choose a tune/hum, by some musician playing on the street to be the key to open the box but then it could be argued that he probably really wanted to keep the box as safe and secured as possible. And then here's another question:if he didn't inform Copy as to the existence of the box, why would he want to kill Copy as his last thought before he died? Why would someone, at the brink of his death, think of killing the person who's a solution to something that he wants to keep safe? Shouldn't his last thought involve about some idea on how to save himself from death or something along those lines?Why would Dr. Kikuchi want to kill Copy when in the first place he never informed Copy of the existence of the box? Well that's why I said that it was more reasonable/logical that what he actually meant was to delete the copies. But remember that it was Brian who interpreted it to mean about the killing of Copy. From Brian's standpoint, he just presumed that Copy really knew how to open the box. And what a great coincidence that Copy turns out to be a name of a person and not just that, he was the key to open the box! Wow. Yeah I like answering my own questions.lol.
So all in all, if you want just some action(then again, no one's expecting to cry and go emotional with a title "Lethal Ninja" right??) then this one will do. It is noticeably low-budgeted but it's tolerable.
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