Sung Kang & Naomie Harris head up a good cast in the latest Ninja film. The film has plenty of action & I was surprised when I went to the theater that most of the battle segments were not as dark as a critic in our paper said they were. The film is very much a martial arts film which follows a formula that has been used many times.
In spite of a lack of lines in the script, Sung Kang & particularly the theater trained Harris show considerable acting skill in their roles. You have to be prepared for a lot of violence & blood in this one. It is not for the viewer which is not ready for that. There are very few references to anything sexual in the film, even though Harris takes a couple of showers. No showers for Kang in this one, just a lot of work.
The only reason I don't give this a higher rating is that it keeps employing the same gimmick in about 3 or 4 sequences. The first time it works well, but by the time you get to the finale, & it is done for the 4th time you can actually feel & predict it coming. That makes the finale a little stale, though still entertaining.
One thing this film does is showing ninja taking down a lot of these guys with guns & body armor a few pegs. In more than one sequence the ninja have more force than the folks with guns.
In spite of a lack of lines in the script, Sung Kang & particularly the theater trained Harris show considerable acting skill in their roles. You have to be prepared for a lot of violence & blood in this one. It is not for the viewer which is not ready for that. There are very few references to anything sexual in the film, even though Harris takes a couple of showers. No showers for Kang in this one, just a lot of work.
The only reason I don't give this a higher rating is that it keeps employing the same gimmick in about 3 or 4 sequences. The first time it works well, but by the time you get to the finale, & it is done for the 4th time you can actually feel & predict it coming. That makes the finale a little stale, though still entertaining.
One thing this film does is showing ninja taking down a lot of these guys with guns & body armor a few pegs. In more than one sequence the ninja have more force than the folks with guns.