The Warrior's Way (2010)

In the late 19th Century an assassin Yang (Jang Dong Gun) is ordered to take the life of the last member of a rival clan. Only when Yang discovers that the last member is still a baby he flees to the American west with the child in hopes of creating a new life in the town of Lode. Only his new found life to disturbed when a disfigured criminal who calls himself The Colonel (Danny Huston) returns to terrorize the townsfolk. To make matters worse Yang's former clan appear in an attempt to rectify Yang's betrayal.

Having seen this film it has been quite a struggle to put into words just how exactly I feel about. However having thought about it for a couple of days now I feel confident enough to put my thoughts in the written word. Here we have a film which is attempting to meld spaghetti western films with Asian martial arts movies. Something we've already seen before in films such as Shanghai Noon and The Stranger And The Gun Fighter. Two films which knew when to play to it's strengths. Sadly that is not the case with The Warrior's Way. As someone who thoroughly enjoys both genre of film, the idea of putting the two together makes complete sense as they compliment each other very well. What the film fails to take into account is that in order to make it work you need a very strong cast, a decent enough story and a director who can bring it all together. 

You would be forgiven in thinking the film has those qualities when you watch the trailer or see the poster. However it is just such an underwhelming experience that I felt nothing but disappointment when the end credits began to roll. First of the all the cast just seem to have zero chemistry. Lead actor Jang Dong-Gun has and I'm not making this up, at least a dozen lines of dialogue throughout the whole movie. Instead choosing to communicate his feelings to the audience with confused looks and ever so subtle smirks which is a shame when you realise this is an actor who has appeared in such Korean cinematic classics Nowhere To Hide, Friend and Taegukgi.

Kate Bosworth plays the love interest Lynne and while I'll give the actress credit for trying her damnedest to look convincing during some action scenes and trying to salvage some kind of connection with her co-star. Sadly not even she can save what was already an underwhelming mess of a film.

Two actors which look like they seem to be enjoying themselves as Geoffrey Rush and Danny Huston. Rush plays the Ron, the town drunkard with a murky past. The character is completely stock but Rush at least looks like he cares about being in the movie as opposed to Bosworth who looks incredibly frustrated for the most part. Like most actors in Hollywood movies, Huston seems to be having a complete ball as The Colonel and had he been in it a little more may have been the only thing to single-handedly save the entire film. Sadly he isn't given enough screen time to do that. Also the film has one of the most surprising casting choices ever.

Ti Lung.

Yes, that one!

He appears in the film as the head of the Ninja clan which Yang had fled. Oh don't worry, the film makers weren't smart enough to give him lots of screen time and well written dialogue. No, they did what any disrespecting Hollywood film would do. Have him appear in short scenes that add sod all to the film's narrative and have a horribly choreographed sword fight with the hero. That's how Hollywood treats legends folks. Kicking him in the balls and having him dance to Justin Beiber while wearing a mankini would have been more dignified.

One can't help but think this film could have been saved if it had been given to a much better director. Sngmoo Lee shows that while he can create a mostly visually pleasing film he can not seem to get good performances from his lead actors or create a film with a tight, well-paced narrative. Speaking of the film's visuals. It seems that the entire thing was shot on a sound stage and uses CGI backgrounds akin to the live-action Sin City which does seem to work more in it's favor as it gives the film an appropriate comic book/anime vibe.

However polishing a turd will only get you so far and not even the martial arts action can help matters. This has to be one of the most lazily choreographed action scenes I've seen this year. Even abominations like Ten Dead Men and Tekken had the decency to have good action. Here we have dull sword play punctuated by slow editing, annoying slow motion and completely devoid of any tension or drama.

If you should ever see a film which sees a popular Asian actor star along side a Hollywood star all the while having a good old adventure fighting dastardly villains and creating a film which is silly overall but incredibly enjoyable then don't watch The Warrior's Way. Instead go watch The Stranger And The Gun Fighter.

Alien Vs Ninja (2010)

What's this? a new review by me? no, gentle readers you aren't having a brain aneurysm, I have indeed dusted my reviewing hat off (Yes, I own a reviewing hat, picture a dear stalker with viking horns) and I'm going to dive head first back into the fray and do I have a treat for you!

"I can scarcely believe it!"

Neither can I over-excited random fifties woman. Where to start? well, some time ago I stumbled across a trailer on Youtube. A trailer for a movie idea so awesome that it almost made my head explode just from the sheer crazy factor of it. It was a trailer for the movie ALIEN VS NINJA!

When I saw that, I went nuts. It was like a fevered cheese dream had been made real and put onto film. Of course, it was a while before the movie finally saw it's overseas release but the moment that baby hit store shelves, I grabbed my copy and ran home like a hyper-active fat kid chasing after a chocolate cake. Well, not so much ran but caught the bus but anyway, Moving onto the film itself.

Set in ancient Japan (Yet the Ninja have quite modern weapons and armor) the film opens with ninjas doing what ninjas do best, blowing stuff up then getting the hell out of dodge. A small group from the Iga clan are fleeing back to their home after the successful mission where they witness a meteor crashing to the ground. Since the ninja are simple folk they don't concern themselves with it and continue on home. However, the meteor contains a deadly alien creature that's hell bent on destroying everything in their path.

During their trip home we're introduced to the characters, which are pretty much every stock Japanese movie character you can think of. The hot head leader, the stoic best friend, the tom boy female and the annoying tubby one. If you're familiar with a lot of Japanese action movies then you've met these characters many times before. Yet it's all very trivial. After all, you don't watch a film called Alien Vs Ninja expecting to see a deep character study about a group of individuals who've dedicated themselves to what is essentially a nihilistic ideal. 

You watch it to see some good ol' fashioned ass kicking and this movie delivers that in spades. The next day our heroes are training when they stumble upon an injured young man. He tells them of a demon which has wiped out his entire village and upon further investigation of the boy's ramblings they are set upon by the alien. I won't go any further with the plot as that's pretty much the set up but from that point on this film goes from average Japanese action movie to a complete balls out, screw loose acid trip of an experience. Despite the film's obvious low budget, they did a whole lot given what they had. The practical effects are not perfect, the Alien resembles the ones from the well know Hollywood only it looks like it was done a third of the budget.

Still, it just adds to the whole over the top grindhouse vibe it gives off. Of course being an action movie it contains liberals helpings of ninja on extra-terrestrial fighting. The choreography while not all that stylised is fast, slick , practical and competently edited and it's definitely worth checking out. This is a film that has to be seen to be believed and if you've been sitting on the fence about this then jump off that fence, into your neighbor's pool then set fire to his lawn because you really need to give this one a try. 

So that's all I'm gonna say on this one folks. Feels good to be writing again and I hope you found the new style more easy on the eyes. Having read some of my past reviews I've decided to be a little more concise and breaks things up a bit with images and videos to make my posts a little easier to digest rather then posting walls of text. I'll probably write in more detail depending on the film but for now I'm just trying things out.

Stay tuned folks for more reviews (And I mean it this time!)

Ninja (2009)

Ninjas. whenever you hear the word ninjas you think of sneaky men in black pyjamas, carry big swords and don't get along with pirates. That last one is a scientific fact and  I defy anyone who thinks otherwise. The Ninja has always had a cult status in cinema, particularly martial arts cinema. During the 80's you couldn't move from one shelf to the other of your local video rental store without seeing a ninja film staring at you just begging to be rented and taken home to watched with a few beers and a good curry.

The ninja trend seemed to die a quiet death in the early 90's when the kick boxing fad came along and since then, apart from Japan, there's been very few attempts at bringing the genre back to contemporary action cinema but it would appear 2009 was the year of the Ninja when not one but two major ninja films saw release. The first one was the big budget and completely misunderstood Ninja Assassin (which will probably be reviewed by me at some point), the other is the film I'll be reviewing today which is the lesser know but just as good to watch Ninja, a simple and unimaginative title it may be but it sums up the film's content perfectly.

Raised in the art of Ninjutsu since he was abandoned by his parents as a young child, Casey (Scott Adkins) is chosen to return to his American homeland to protect the legendary Yoroi Bitsu (a chest which contains the weapons of the last Koga Ninja) from his mortal enemy Masazuka (Tsuyoshi Ihara).

The plot is strictly by the numbers but it's just an excuse to cram as much martial arts action into the film as humanly possible. If you're looking for the film which combines intense drama with realistic depictions of the ninja arts then you're going to be very disappointed, however on the other hand if you're looking for a film which has lots of blood spraying and swords clashing then Ninja is right up your alley. That in itself is the film's greatest strength; it knows what type of film it is, what type of audience is going for and doesn't strive to be anything more then what it is. There's an admirable attempt at a romantic sub-plot between the lead actors Scott Adkins and Mika Hijii but it comes off a bit cheesy and predictable most of the time.

The cast in itself is very good given this is a direct-to-DVD action film. Leading man Scott Adkins, who is merely a bit player in big Hollywood movies such as Bourne Ultimatum and Wolverine, has garnered a loyal cult following from his lesser know works in which he has more substantial roles. Movies such as Special Forces, Undisputed II and Undisputed III have allowed him to show not only is he a capable leading man but also an incredible martial artist but Hollywood have yet to realise what an indispensable asset Adkins can be when he appears on screen. Mika Hijii who plays Casey's love interest and fellow ass-kicker Namiko proves she's better then the material given to her as she gives quite competent performances in both the acting and action stakes and she plays off Adkins well in the many dialogue scenes they have. What would an action movie be with a good villain? Tsuyoshi Ihara is clearly having lots of fun playing Masazuka as he gets to wear some pretty cool ninja gear and kill lots of people in different, bloody and stylish ways.

This being a Ninja film it's obvious that the action is the focal point and as I mentioned earlier it delivers in spades. Adkins goes through each fight sequence effortlessly and gets to show off his full repertoire of moves while kicking some serious butt. The fight which takes place in a temple toward the end of the film really encapsulates what amazing skill Adkins has as an action star. The film is already gaining a cult following and that's in no small part to the film's director Isaac Florentine, who's made a name for himself directing low budget action films that have some of the most intricately choreographed action seen outside of Hong Kong. He's one of the few director's to really have a grasp of how to shoot martial arts action on screen and make it look fast, exciting and bone crunching. Something which a few Hollywood directors can't seem to get their heads around.

Ninja is one of the best action movies of 2009 and showcases some breath-taking action and some solid acting. I totally recommend you go out and get this as I guarantee that you will not be disappointed in the least.