Nukenin (抜け忍 )(2009)

[fiol]

Have u ever seen/heard of this movie?

I found these nice clips on youtube:

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the action doesnt seem really bad (at least the 2nd and 3rd clips), and the actress ( Mika Hijii ) is so kawai

it's out on dvd in japan without eng subs.

[Takuma]

This is from the same director & lead actress pair that did Alien vs Ninja. Unfortunately Nukenin isn't nearly as good as Alien vs Ninja, missing not only aliens but also all the humor. That wouldn't be a bad thing if Seiji Chiba could handle a story heavy film but, here at least, he can't.

The film takes a great start, opening with two excellent action scenes (and a pair of bare breasts on top of that). From here it's downhill. Every fight is slightly less impressive than the one before (AvN is the opposite, with each action scene being more insane than the previous), and even at 70 minutes the film drags. The storyline is standard affair with zero interest factor, and almost all compensating qualities (humor, aliens, good soundtrack etc.) are missing.

Digital cinematography is the standard in low budget JP films nowadays. Some manage it fine (say, Nishimura), some brilliantly (some indie drama directors), some poorly (Chiba here). Home video esque budget digitalism is in a contrast with what should be an epic ninja tale set in the history.

But yeah, the action scenes do entertain alright, and Mika Hijii seems like an actress worth keeping an eye on. She's neither a kawaii idol nor a softcore actress - both of which typically populate Japanese action films. She's not here for acting talent either - but because she can actually handle the action scenes.

[DrNgor]

Posted a short review on the site.

I liked it a little; it's certainly better Kunoichi.