Member zeus Posted November 3, 2009 Member Share Posted November 3, 2009 just saw the commercial for this movie opening this month looks really interesting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member daisho2004 Posted November 3, 2009 Member Share Posted November 3, 2009 DAJIZZARIZZA: You know I cannot wait to see this movie! I agree with you and hope that its not way over the top with CGI and its got a really good storyline and action in it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member AlbertV Posted November 4, 2009 Author Member Share Posted November 4, 2009 Rain was on CNN's TalkAsia last week and I think despite the overabudance of CGI, he may possibly have that physical stature to actually perform some intricate action. Of course, I will wait to see this on DVD. Rain looks completely different now than he does in Ninja Assassin. He chopped off most of his long hair and had a short curly cut going. He was performing his first concert in Korea since 2006 and did the interview to talk about his childhood, career as Korea's top R&B star, and then finally Ninja Assassin, even showing the training footage with the 87Eleven Stunt Team. He said action wise, he has put in his heart and soul in Ninja Assassin and hopes it pays off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Yi-Long Posted November 4, 2009 Share Posted November 4, 2009 Don't mean to rant, but seeing a few people mention to much darktime in this move, and also read on other forums the same gripe. Hey I love a good ninja flick like the next guy, hell even a cheesy one can be fun. But were talking about ninja's correct? Who purpose is to blend in stealth like. I am by no means a ninja expert, quote from our friends at Wikipedia: The nin of ninjutsu is the same as that in ninja, whereas jutsu means skill or art, so ninjutsu means "the skill of going unperceived" or "the art of stealth"; hence, ninja and shinobi-no-mono (as well as shinobi) may be translated as "one skilled in the art of stealth". Similarly, the pre-war word ninjutsu-zukai means "one who uses the art of remaining unperceived". After reading thw quote above, how on earth can a ninja do any of that during the daytime. Seeing a ninja dressed up and fighting in daylight has always given me a good chuckle, and don't get me going on the even worse ninja's the ones dressed up in red, yellow. or white outfits, during the daytime hours. Geesh... you might as well paint a bullseye on those suckers chests. Ok rant off am I being really anal about this... yeppers you bet. But its all in good fun. Just something I figured I would throw out there. Ninja Assassin is a modern-day ninja flick. I would think 'modern ninja's' would be nothing like the old style ninja's we know and love, but much more like Bourne or Bond: undercover, well trained, good at playing roles (in old days ninja's would have 2-3 different families in different towns cities, and would pose as a merchant or something to explain his periods away from home, when he was with his other family/families.... so if one of his covers was blown, he could just use one of his other covers...). I doubt a modern day ninja would do a whole lot of sneaking around in the dark in a ninja outfit, tbh. Especially not with todays' security measures, which make it pretty much impossible to use that kinda 'stealth'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member LeRolls Posted November 8, 2009 Member Share Posted November 8, 2009 I'll definitely be checking it out. The CG does look a little iffy but hopefully the stunt work will be good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member chanbara Posted November 12, 2009 Member Share Posted November 12, 2009 If you haven't already, you should check out these 2 absolutely amazing behind-the-scenes featurettes. They include comments about and from the ninja legend himself, Sho Kosugi! Beyond the Wire http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agvO2zNcP3Y Out of the Shadows http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Qr83ESf4aU Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WuxiaFan Posted November 13, 2009 Share Posted November 13, 2009 With the Legendary Sho Kosugi in this nothing will stop me from seeing it on opening day. I'm not crazy about CGI blood and CGI effects, but it's what's pretty much the norm these days so you have to grin and bear it. I'm confident that it won't ruin the experience or enjoyment of this for me. Completely agree with you, chanbara! I've always been a Sho Kosugi fan and can't wait to see him again! The trailer they've been running on Fox looks good, so very much looking forward to checking it out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Tosh Posted November 14, 2009 Member Share Posted November 14, 2009 When is the release date for this? Shame they didn't put Sho's son in the main part, seems only fitting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member chanbara Posted November 14, 2009 Member Share Posted November 14, 2009 When is the release date for this? Shame they didn't put Sho's son in the main part, seems only fitting. It's coming out on November 25 (at least in the U.S. and Canada). More release dates can be found here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1186367/releaseinfo And it would've been awesome if Kane had been cast as the lead, but maybe they'll cast him in the sequel if there is one. By the way, Kane's younger brother Shane recently appeared in a kick ass ninja short film called KAGE. You can check it out online here: http://kage-japan.com/ It's even subtitled in English! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Karlos Posted November 25, 2009 Moderator Share Posted November 25, 2009 Hi all Seen some seriously mixed reviews already but want to know what you guys make of this... Personally, I'm stoked to see this but as I'm in the UK I now have to wait until January!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member gorhama Posted November 25, 2009 Member Share Posted November 25, 2009 I can't wait to see this movie too!! I know what it is going in so hopefully that will help my overall enjoyment with it!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member LeRolls Posted November 26, 2009 Member Share Posted November 26, 2009 One of my buddies got to see an early screening and he thought it kicked major ass! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WuxiaFan Posted November 26, 2009 Share Posted November 26, 2009 It's gotten a lot of mixed reviews, but I'm still going to see it. Approaching it teppidly, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Fightingfist Posted November 26, 2009 Member Share Posted November 26, 2009 It looks good so hope it is lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Iron Palm Posted November 26, 2009 Member Share Posted November 26, 2009 I watched it last night and it's a decent, middle-of-the-road actioner. Rain's performance is okay. Not bad with the physical stuff, not good when required to spit out more than one syllable of dialogue (which rarely happens). The problem (for me) was the ultra heavy hand used when it came to CGI. Only a fight scene or two were pure martial arts, all the rest were (darkly lit) CGI fests. Think Blade 3, only with more CGI. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Tosh Posted November 26, 2009 Member Share Posted November 26, 2009 What about Sho Kosugi? How's his role? Just out of respect for him for the entertainment his movies gave me as a kid (even if they weren't the best movies) I want to go see this in the theater. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Jesse Smooth Posted November 26, 2009 Member Share Posted November 26, 2009 What about Sho Kosugi? How's his role? Just out of respect for him for the entertainment his movies gave me as a kid (even if they weren't the best movies) I want to go see this in the theater. Yep, Sho is the highlight of this bad boy for me. Hopefully, I can con my dad into seeing this with me as I am home for Thanksgiving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Iron Palm Posted November 26, 2009 Member Share Posted November 26, 2009 What about Sho Kosugi? How's his role? Just out of respect for him for the entertainment his movies gave me as a kid (even if they weren't the best movies) I want to go see this in the theater. He's the highlight of the film, does a great job with the best character of the movie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member chanbara Posted November 26, 2009 Member Share Posted November 26, 2009 I saw it yesterday. Twice. I already posted my thoughts on it on another board, so I'll just cut and paste it here and add a bit at the end. It's all SPOILER FREE stuff: Except for a few aspects that had me scratching my head, Ninja Assassin is a fun ride and delivers on what it promises. The legendary Sho Kosugi is simply INCREDIBLE in the film. He's as cool as ever and man does he ever bring some serious intensity to his scenes. I was afraid he'd have very little screen time, but between the many flashback scenes, the many great voice-overs, and the absolutely kick-ass finale, he's all over the place and absolutely kills it in every scene. If you're a Sho Kosugi fan, you're in for a treat my friend. The Master Ninja is back with a vengeance! Rain was also really good in the film. I have to say that prior to him being cast in the film, the only thing I knew about "rain" was that it was that wet stuff that falls from the sky. But now the word has a whole new meaning. I was really impressed with his work ethic and dedication to training for the role and it paid off. He definitely put his heart and soul into this project and it shows on-screen. The only thing that's unfortunate, and this is probably my biggest complaint about the film, is that much of what he does fighting-wise is difficult to see due to the sped-up photography and CGI effects, the darkness of most of the scenes, and the fountains of blood gushing out all over the place. But I guess that's what, for better or worse, sets 21st century filmmaking apart from 20th century filmmaking. Still, major kudos to Rain for his performance. And I have to say that Naomie Harris is as talented as she is beautiful. And man is she ever beautiful! Absolutely drop dead gorgeous! She probably has the most scenes in the film and more dialogue than anyone else and she really gave a great, and nuanced performance. Just fantastic. I also want to say that Joon Lee who plays Raizo as a teenager and Anna Sawai who plays Kiriko both give really good performances. Anna Sawai in particular, was just wonderful in her tragic role. I looked up her credits and even found a few Japanese pages about her (http://avex-geinou.jp/newcommer/sawai/ and http://avexnet.jp/id/tsawa/profile/) and it looks like this is one of her first roles. I definitely look forward to seeing this lovely Japanese actress in more movies in the future. For the old school martial arts purists, you may be disapointed in how little we see in terms of the fighters movements. As I said above, it's tough to see what's going on in a number of the scenes for the reasons I mentioned. The camera also moves constantly in many of the fight scenes. It's a shame for all the talented stuntmen and martial artists who worked on this too, because most of the time it's all a big blur so you don't get a good look at what they did. It bugged the old school fan in me, but there's also a lot of style and it's pretty visually stunning so I just went with it. Probably the least obstructed fighting scenes happen at the end which is when Sho Kosugi gets to do his thing, so... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator KUNG FU BOB Posted November 26, 2009 Administrator Share Posted November 26, 2009 Chanbara- thanks for your review. I was sort of figuring it would be like you described, and that I would have the same mixed feelings about it. But I can't wait to see it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Drunken Monk Posted November 27, 2009 Member Share Posted November 27, 2009 I agree with Chanbara. I actually expected bad things from this film and came out loving it. It has a piss poor plot, a terrible script and some of the most annoying acting you might see in a film but, by God, is it enjoyable. Rain is incredible in his role and obviously put in a lot of work. It shows. Is he the new Tony Jaa? Nope. Is he trying to be the new Tony Jaa? Certainly not. This film isn't about well choreographed martial arts. It's about carnage and ninjas being sliced up. There are moments of, "Will the camera guy just stop moving so fast?" as well as plenty of unnecessary zooms and slow motion but who really cares? The action is packed with fun, the ninjas emerging from the shadows will have you yelling "Oh shit!" and Sho Kosugi is...well...Sho Kosugi. At his age I wondered if they would be able to pull off a crisp end fight. Oh, they pull it off alright! I also enjoyed that, part way through the film, there is a wonderful horror-like scene. It's similar to "Aliens" where the Marines are waiting for the aliens to appear as they watch them on motion trackers. Only in this film, it's not aliens...it's a shitload of ninjas. The tension is quite wonderfully done. There are shaky moments in the film, as I have stated but there was only one moment that made me go "Huh?" A moment I won't dwell on as it's a semi-spoiler. However, "Ninja Assassin" is fun, frantic, insanely violent and a wonderful example of a "popcorn" movie. If you go in expecting Oscar material or even anything close to modern martial arts cinema, you might be disappointed. If you want a film that kicks arse and worries about perfection later, then you'll enjoy "Ninjas Assassin." Dare I say it's ninja lickin' good? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Karlos Posted November 27, 2009 Moderator Share Posted November 27, 2009 To echo KF Bob, thanks for the reviews, guys - they've got me even more excited to see this!! As we're all genre fans on here, I was particularly interested to see what you all thought of it as mainstream reviews, for the most part, don't seem to "get it" - I knew you guys would know if it was good or not!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Mark Pollard Posted November 27, 2009 Member Share Posted November 27, 2009 It gets a thumbs up from me. Yes, the action is too obscured but I didn't care after a while. Good pacing, choreography and over-the-top violence kept it enjoyable from start to finish. I was honestly surprised how much I liked it. I never thought I'd come out of a martial arts movie with so much heavy editing saying that. Here's my full review: http://www.kungfucinema.com/review-ninja-assassin-2009-11845 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Karlos Posted November 27, 2009 Moderator Share Posted November 27, 2009 Mark, your review has my appetite well and truly whetted! January cannot come quick enough!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator KUNG FU BOB Posted November 27, 2009 Administrator Share Posted November 27, 2009 First the flu makes me miss Thanksgiving dinner with my family, now I have to wait even longer to see this! Ahhhrgh! Can't wait to go with my son to check this out. Mark, your reveiw has got me so psyched! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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