From Jonathan Klotz
| Published
J. Michael Straczynski is an accomplished comic book writer and the creator of Babylon 5but he has also worked on dozens of other films, from Underworld: Awakening to episodes of Murder she wrote. One of his most overlooked projects is now a streaming hit on Max, which made it into the top 10 and has stayed there for over a week so far, which is particularly impressive given that it was a disappointment at the box office. Ninja assassin is one of the most generic titles of all time and the film itself is only slightly more interesting, but the violent action scenes make up for the predictable plot.
Murder ninjas
South Korean superstar Rain plays Raizo, the titular ninja assassin, who is both a ninja and an assassin, but also an assassin of ninjas, so the title is accurate no matter how you read it. Raizo was trained as an assassin by the evil warlord Lord Ozunu and refuses to kill a female ninja (Kunoichi). Instead, he strikes out against his clan and dedicates his life to stopping their secret wave of terror. He is eventually joined in his one-man crusade by Europol special agent Mika, played by Naomie Harris, and has made a career out of playing one of the best roles in B movies.
Honestly, the plot doesn’t really matter because there’s only one a reason why someone is watching Ninja assassinand that is the fight scenes. They lack the raw feel of later martial arts films The Raid: Redemptionbut they are bloody, especially in a moment involving a laundromat. Raizo may be a great fighter, but he also spends much of the movie getting beaten up, which helps make his moments of triumph feel cooler than if he were to say, “Oh, let’s just say: Dwayne Johnsonand has never lost a single fight on screen.
A pair of martial arts icons
Rain carries Ninja assassin as the heroic Raizo, and it’s clear why he was one of the biggest names in South Korean entertainment for a generation. The film is his first English leading role, although he had already made his English acting debut a year earlier in The Wachowskis Speed racerwhich is fitting, because the siblings then signed on as producers for the ninja fight festival. Rain had experience in a variety of different martial arts before taking on the role, and although he didn’t do all of the stunts himself, he did film almost every fight scene himself.
While Rain may be a famous entertainer, Lord Ozunu will also be familiar to fans of ninja action B or even Z movies, as the villain is played by Sho Kosugi, star of the Cannon films in the Ninja Trilogy, including the terribly evil Ninja III: The Reign. Ninja assassin was the last film to star the ’80s icon, instead focusing on his numerous martial arts schools.
Ninja assassin seems an unlikely J. Michael Straczynski project, and although it lacks depth Babylon 5Recall that the prolific creator also wrote the infamous Spider-Man comic arc “Sins Past,” considered one of the worst storylines in Peter Parker history. Not every hit at the plate will be a home run, but at least this ninja action B-movie helped deliver the rewrites that ensured the film will remain a cult classic for years to come.
Ninja assassin is currently streaming on Max.