MovieChat Forums > Ninja (2009) Discussion > Disappointing

Disappointing

posted 14 years ago by mikesblast
19 replies | jump to latest

It pretty much comes off as you would expect from a DTV action flick...which is what I was hoping wouldn't happen. It had crappy acting with even worse dialogue, yet had some good action scenes. Adkins, who I have been waiting to see in a leading role, is extremely dull as our hero, Casey. His fighting is great but as far as charisma goes, he just doesn't have it in this. He was much more entertaining in Undisputed 2. The few scenes in Ninja where he tries to emote, it comes off as almost laughable. There are some other aspects of the story that are just ridiculous as well...such as the secret cult that is chasing Casey. I almost wanted to shut off the movie as soon as they were introduced. I do give some credit to director Florentine though for thinking on a large level when it comes to making the movie. You can tell he tried to go for a more epic feel than most of the other action films that flood the DTV market. He succeeds at times and fails at times. You can tell that he didn't have much of a budget and it shows in a lot of the locations. They look like obvious set pieces. Florentine and his team do know how to create a good fight scene though. There are a few sequences that are really well staged and are fun to watch. Having said all that...it is not the worst movie you will see but it definitely isn't that good either. It doesn't hold a flame to some of the other recent DTV movies such as Blood and Bone, The Tournament(which Adkins had a bit part in)and Universal Soldier: Regeneration. Check it out for yourselves though.

** out of *****

[–] truheart_1 14 years ago

I don't know about that, this was pretty damn good for a DTV. You're right when you say Scott Adkins is not a good actor, but that's not really why I watched it. I wanted to see a decent Ninja movie with good action. That's what I got. There is absolutely nothing in the story that was surprising, but again I really didn't expect it to be. The action was very good and the movie moved fast enough that I never really cared whether it had an original story. Definitely in the same class as Blood and Bone and The Tournament. In fact, I think the action scenes were better in Ninja then either Blood and Bone or The Tournament. My only wish is that they would have used Michael Jai White instead of Adkins. This has been a great year for DTV movies.

[–] mikesblast 14 years ago

I agree with you that Jai White would have been good in the role. Im not gonna give up on Adkins just yet. He's capable of doing better so I'll keep watching.

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] Swordsaint 14 years ago

Indeed. I watched it only cos im Scott Adkins admirer. If i knew it was shot in Bulgaria (my country, not like im nihilistic or anything, but i just know the average quality of movies shot here, Undisputed 2 the only exception so far)even that wouldn't make me.
And LOL, they show Aleksander Nevski church in Sofia and say its Vladivostok? Damn insulting and absurd for any bulgarian watching it, instantly turning you off the movie.

[–] jeffscsr 14 years ago

bit disapponted too. it was a decent movie, but i was hoping for more. too much cgi blood too.
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[–] masewindu2 14 years ago

this movie was just bad. i want the memory of this erased from my mind permanently.

[–] Xcalat3 14 years ago

very

When there's no more room in hell, The dead will walk the earth...

[–] excalibur1814 14 years ago

I loved Undisputed II, liked Bad To the bone but this really wasn't that good. It had it's moments but as you said, failed in many ways.

Either way, the guys that made this film should keep on trying.

[–] Snusmumrikken 14 years ago

Agreed.

Time just a place

[–] lexesbenz 14 years ago

Adkins was by far ten times the actor than the idiot who played the leader of the circle cult or whatever they were. I literally don't think I have seen worst acting than his. The best acting in the movie came from the Sensei and masazuka.

[–] swinggold 14 years ago

This was one of more lame marital arts movies I've seen in the last several years. What really made it disappointing for me was that it was Adkins debut as a lead actor. He was great in The Shepherd: Border Patrol with Van Damme and Undisputed II with White. He plays great villains but as the good guy his acting is very milquetoast. The story was painful to watch cuz it was the same old cliche only more obvious. Orphan white boy in a foreign culture, taken in by sensei and falls in love with the sensei's daughter but is disdained by a jealous rival who feels he doesn't belong. Rival goes rogue. What a recycled plot!! Adkins needs a new agent. The fight scenes were ok but they weren't all that great. The choreography seemed a bit choppy compared to many other finer DTV movies. The CGI was crappy. The wirework was unnecessary.

Adkins has done much better. He deserves better. I was surprised to see this was Boaz Davidson and Isaac Florentine because they've done alot better movies and they've utilized Adkins in those flicks. Why would they pick something so substandard to showcase what could possibly be the next big action star???

[–] mmarcopolo 13 years ago

I agree with the last two posts. Im surprised to see so many people think this movie is so great. I got fooled by everybody's "thumbs up!!" for this flick. I just watched it and it's TERRIBLE!! Very standard and ordinary movie plot. Mediocre action. I gotta admit it's only slightly worse than Ninja Assassin. That was an even bigger let-down after all the hype it got.

I didn't realize this was the same guy from Undisputed 2 & 3. They really "neutered" him in this flick. Like mentioned earlier he was more badass as a villain or anti-hero. Here he looks almost too shy to act.

[–] Zhan_Zhuang 13 years ago

I also echo the sentiments that this poor excuse for a movie was extremely disappointing! As a practitioner of Ninjutsu in my formative years I was at least hoping for something at least slightly accurate, perhaps I should have known better of an American production?

I just rated this 'one star' although I think that is a tad too high!

"Be still like a mountain and flow like a great river." - Laozi

The Shadow Warrior

[–] RobBase086-1 14 years ago

I liked the movie and thought it was great to watch!

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[–] Padwanna 14 years ago

@ Mikesblast - Very nice review. Thanks for putting this up. I share the same opinion as you on the movie; fight scenes were great, everything else was pretty ordinary. That circle group in the beginning was just plain silly the way it came off. I am sure that part of the plot could have been redone to something better without much effort on the part of a competent writer. In the end, it was quite disappointing as it didn't deliver the goods, so to speak.

Padwanna.

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The internet has the ability to turn sane people into ranting fools!

[–] noahtenzin 14 years ago

http://shareddarkness.com/2010/03/01/ninja-dvd.aspx

^ Yeah, sounds like a case of the not-so-great, DTV blues... review says: "As long as there are strip-mall dojos and martial arts fans who wish to see their kick-fantasy shenanigans acted out on celluloid, there will be movies like NINJA."