NINJA ASSASSIN (Blu Ray)

Directed by James McTeigue
Written By Matthew Sands & J. Michael Straczynski
Stars: Rain, Naomie Harris, Sho Kosugi, Ben Miles

The prime examples of the 80’s Ninja genre are Enter the Ninja, Revenge of the Ninja and Pray for Death starring Sho Kosugi. The Matrix creators Larry and Andy Wachowski have brought a similarly blood soaked tale of warring Ninja’s to the screen (by way of anime classic Ninja Scroll). Directed by James McTeigue (V for Vendetta), it tells the story of Raizo (Korean Pop star Rain) a Ninja assassin raised and trained by the deadly Ozunu clan. Raizo has gone renegade and now seeks to destroy his former master. He teams up with Europol Agent Mika Corretti (Naomie Harris) who is investigating the clan and then proceeds to slice, dice and eviscerate the onslaught of ninjas sent to stop the pair from succeeding. The plot is wafer thin but fortunately the splatter-crazed action (the Blu-ray DTS-HD audio really comes into its own here) is more than worth the time of fans of the genre. Supporting performances are efficient but unengaging, Rain does a good line in brooding and makes for an appealing protagonist on which to hang the ensuing 99 minutes of frenzied arse kicking and as clan master Ozunu, Sho Kosugi lends real gravitas as a veteran of the genre. On the whole, the fantastically choreographed fight sequences and insanely stylised violence make this is a phenomenally enjoyable addition to the Ninja action canon. Extras are slim: a short doco on Ninjas and the physical training of Rain.