Mask of the Ninja (2008 TV Movie) User Reviews

Back to the 80s ninja craze

[captainpervert · 3/10 · 26 May 2009]

Just when you thought the cheesy "touch me and I die" ninjas were something from your childhood, you come across this flick. When I was 10, I watched the American Ninja movies over and over again, even constructed my own ninja weapons in my dad's shed. Being 27 now, I somehow could't resist watching it. And an instant flashback it was. The wooden acting, the predictable plot, all there, and more. The editing is a bit more flashy and incorporates many closeups, but other than that, it's all the same. Perhaps a little more blood.

It's not all that bad, though, I'd day it's better than the average Seagal movie, but that's not saying much.

Bottom line: just as bad as the other ninjamovies, but ideal stuff for todays 10-year olds.

Mask of the Ninja is just okay. It skates by, but it has too many problems for us to give it a wholehearted recommendation.

[tarbosh22000 · 4/10 · 11 February 2022]

Jack Barrett (Van Dien) is an L. A. cop who may not be quite on the edge, but he has a slight attitude problem. Things get a whole lot more complicated for him and his partner Gina (Young) when Mr. Takeo (Lee) of the Takeo Corporation is murdered by ninjas. That's right, ninjas are involved in corporate intrigue too. Now they're after his daughter Miko (Wu), so Barrett teams up with a ninja expert named Hiro (Wong) to protect the girl and save themselves in the process. But it's not going to be easy, because these particular ninjas are ruthless killers and many fights ensue. Who truly wears the MASK OF THE NINJA?

What with the advent of Ninja Assassin (2009), Ninja (2009), Ninja 2: Shadow of a Tear (2013), and now Mask of the Ninja, it would seem that a new Ninja Boom was upon us. Of course, in the 80's, video store shelves were filled with ninja movies, and these are just four examples, so maybe not. But if there ever was going to be a second Ninja Boom, this is certainly the way it would start. Maybe it was too much to ask. Besides, Mask of the Ninja is no Ninja III: The Domination (1984), let's just put it that way. But, to be fair, what movie is? It's pretty much impossible to beat that all-time classic, and 'Mask barely reaches American Ninja 4 (1990) territory.

It all begins promisingly enough with Casper Van Dien on stage in an L. A. club rockin' out on guitar. So far so good. He's wearing a vest and naturally it will put you in mind of The Revenger (1990), only in that case it was Frank Zagarino and his smooth sax stylings. Because Van Dien is a cop on the case, and 'Mask was made for TV, we couldn't help but think this could be the pilot for a Van Dien procedural TV series. He could team up with his charismatic partner Gina for a few seasons of crimefighting adventures. It wouldn't have to be an "East meets West" kind of thing like 'Mask, it could be anything, really. Unfortunately, that wasn't to be, but Van Dien has been in tons and tons of DTV and non-DTV movies so there will never be any Casper shortages anytime soon. Thank goodness.

The problem with 'Mask is the way the fight scenes are filmed. It's non-stop quick cuts, flash cuts, "shake" cuts, and every other kind of distracting, unnecessary cut. The fights should have played out more normally and naturally. It's clear enough that everyone involved can fight, and surely there were quality fight choreographers involved, so all this unnecessary "flash" was not necessary. There were some very cool moments mixed in with all of that (we won't spoil some of those moments) but jeez, enough with the quick cuts and trickery already.

Especially towards the end, the movie actually starts to drag because the intrigue and the story isn't quite enough to carry things along for 90 minutes. It's a standard running time, it's not like it's too long or anything, but what we get just isn't interesting enough to sustain even that. We liked the guitar-based soundtrack, but overall things could have been improved if the story was more interesting and the fight scenes were shot better.

It should be noted that the DVD box art is very cool, but misleading. The DVD itself comes in a black slipcase that is die-cut to have "eye-holes" like a ninja mask. It slips over a picture of Van Dien's face, so when you move the slipcase on or off, it appears that Van Dien is wearing a ninja mask. We give full marks to whoever thought of that as a design idea. The problem is that Van Dien himself is a cop in the film, and not a ninja. So if you go in expecting Van Dien as a ninja, you're not going to get that. You get a good amount of other ninjas, including the prerequisite throwing stars and such, but it's not him. He fights the evil ninjas, so that works well enough.

In the end, Mask of the Ninja is just okay. It skates by, but it has too many problems for us to give it a wholehearted recommendation.

Is this the best they could do?

[Wizard-8 · 14 May 2009]

I have been starved of ninja movies for a long time, so when this movie was broadcast I decided to give it a chance, despite the fact it starred Casper Van Dien and that it was made for television. However, I thought the movie pretty much failed for several reasons: (1) The movie often has an ugly visual look to it. Whoever did the lighting and cinematography should have been fired (2) It looks cheap. The production values look more like those from a low-budget action television show from the '80s or '90s.

(3) The fight scenes are horrible. Not only are they badly choreographed, but they have been directed with "flashy" techniques like extreme close-ups and jerky camera movements that make the fights next to impossible to make out.

(4) The boredom factor. The lead was dull, though considering it was Van Dien that should not have been a surprise. But his part was written dull as well. And the whole plot about what the bad guys were looking for (and why) took so long to be revealed that I almost fell asleep.

(5) Incomprehensible stuff. There's one fight scene where the bad guy ninjas hear sirens from approaching cops. Cut to the next scene, and they are far away safe. How the heck did they escape?

(6) Stupid stuff.A bulletproof vest may save your life, but a bullet fired into one will STILL HURT A LOT - and these ninjas get shot in the vest several times in one scene!

I advise you to wait for the Isaac Florentine movie NINJA instead. I haven't seen it, but Florentine has proved to be good with action, and the production company has a reputation for slick low-budget films. Until then, re-rent American NINJA 2 and REVENGE OF THE NINJA instead of seeing this made-for-TV travesty.

I only wanted a bit of action and instead I got a director and camera crew on speed

[Angel_Peter · 1/10 · 23 January 2010]

It is a ninja movie so I had not expected a movie worth Einstein.

But to be honest this movie is more focused on the romance between some white cop that acts pretty awful and the ninja target than giving us good fights and deaths.

Every time you get to a fight it is impossible to follow what is happening because camera angle shifts every 2 seconds. Sometimes you see several different fights at one time that they mix together. Most definitely the worst action filming I have ever seen. Why watch a ninja movie if not for the fighting scenes? Anthony Wong did an alright acting performance as the only one, but I have no idea about how his martial arts skills are as the director did not find that interesting to include in this movie.

If you want to see a better ninja movie choose any movie with the word ninja in the title. Even chose a Meryl Streep movie.

Not the worst story or acting I have seen, but giving it 1 star is very generous as it is a ninja movie with completely spoiled action scenes every time.

Too good to be bad, too bad to be good....zzzzzzzz

[NickDeckard · 1/10 · 27 October 2009]

I saw this on TV last night unfortunately, well I say watched - I wasn't really paying much attention.

Its too bad to be a good film and too good to be a bad film - its just boring to be honest.

No good laughs in it like the old ninja films because its too polished. But you cant take it seriously because its so stupid! So this film doesn't know its target audience lol.

If you want a funny ninja film go back to the 80s....9 Deaths of the Ninja, Ninja Terminator, Ninja Squad, American Ninja etc etc - they are all far better (and funnier) than this.

Good but utterly forgettable

[dbborroughs · 6/10 · 28 April 2009]

By the numbers action starring Caper Van Dien as a cop trying to protect Miko from a group of ninjas who have killed her father and have their sights and her. Nominal ninjas meet regular cops movie is strictly fantasy but it is okay in a turn the brain off sort of way. The over weight and out of shape ninjas are rather silly and most of the performances of the cast are pure B or C grade material. What works here is Van Dien as the hero. He brings a level of gravity to the proceedings that few in the cast do. You watch the film because he single handedly sells the nonsense going on around him. I've seen any number of his films over the years and it finally hit me that he's always good and always game. Certainly the material isn't the best but he manages to sell the material which is why I'm guessing he's making movies. Mask of the Ninja, which was apparently shot with TV in mind, is an okay time killer. I know the fact that I completely blanked on the film until I saw the case again isn't a good sign, however it's mitigated by the fact that when I did see it I was of the opinion "Why didn't I remember that it was pretty good." . I'd give it a shot on a night you want a fluffy something that won't stick to your brain.

Cheesy - and surprisingly gory - ninja TV movie action

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 25 August 2016]

MASK OF THE NINJA is a modern attempt to breathe life into the ninja genre, which has been dormant since the mid-to-late '80s. That it is only moderately successful is really down to the production company behind it, the same guys who also made KUNG FU KILLER and STREET WARRIOR. A low budget and TV movie atmosphere don't add much to the fun of the thing, but it is quite an entertaining little movie, even in a bad way. The ninjas themselves are probably the worst aspect of the production. Instead of lean, stealthy, Japanese warriors, these are heavy Americans who wander down the street without attracting attention. They look like guys with balaclavas wearing boiler suits instead of the age-old assassins they're supposed to represent.

Still, they don't skimp on the throwing stars and killing methods, which means this is a film with plenty of cheesy action. There are a handful of standout moments and the action-packed ending is fairly decent, with lots of sword impalement. I loved the shot where the ninjas burst through a glass wall right behind Van Dien and stick a star in his arm. There are also a couple of other stand-out moments, including a grisly massacre in a police station that recalls THE TERMINATOR, except that it's even more violent. The director seems to go out of his way to show the innocent being slain in gruesome ways (throat slashing, etc.) but one beef I have is that you never see the ninjas die gorily, and that's the fun of genre classics like MAFIA VS. NINJA.

Speaking of gore, this is a pretty gruesome little film, and there's one memorable torture scene that seems to come straight out of HOSTEL: PART II as one poor sod is strung up, bloodied with knives and then castrated by a sadistic Asian girl. It doesn't have much to do with the rest of the film, it's just thrown in to shock the viewer. The cast are pretty decent for a TV movie, with Kristy Wu proving an attractive damsel-in-distress and Casper Van Dien a square-jawed action hero who regularly comes near to death in his battles with the deadly elite (no Seagal shrugging away of bullets here). Sadly, the frenzied fight editing tries to emulate Bourne and comes off severely the worst for it, sometimes leaving the viewers scratching their heads and wondering what the heck is going on.