Ninja Assassin: A Post-Thanksgiving Review and Some (Leftover) Food for Thought
For those of you looking for a well-balanced and heck, even well- thought out and conceived review, please head over to rottentomatoes or IMDB now for a review of this movie, because you will not find that here. You also won’t find a RainxSoy-Saucyx4ever kind of fangirling here either (at least I sure hope not!). You will find, however, my insights on the movie that many of us here at Seoulbeats have been waiting for and that has been advertised on every bus, billboard, and pretty much anything flat and city-approved, as well as all over youtube, in the last eight months or so. Ok, and I’ll probably talk about Mr. Bad Boy Bi turned “Ninja Assassin” himself at some length too.
As I exclaimed upon exiting the auditorium after my “Assassin” viewing ( and pretty much as I was thinking inwardly when we made our post-Thanksgiving dinner movie selection), “What better way to make you thankful for your life than a movie pervaded with stealthy black-clad ninjas waiting to kill you at every dark corner!” Indeed. Nothing says “thankful” like an inordinate amount of the red, corn-syrupy stuff and violence and gore galore.
I’m not going to touch on the plot much, because well, to be honest, who cares about the plot? This is not some drama or period piece up for an Academy Award and overwrought with diverging plot lines or epic monologues. C’mon people-this is “Ninja Assassin”. I am sure you have all seen the many trailers by now (and if not, what rock have you been living under?!), but for those of you who haven’t a clue as to what “Ninja Assassin” is all about, please go here and see the following:
Back to the plot-it wasn’t terrible. Although not wholly realistic-and what is when you are dealing with ninjas-it keeps you engaged and entertained. Or at least it kept me engaged and entertained. But maybe that was the post-Thanksgiving food coma talking… I’ll let you be the judge. Plus, an excellent plot wasn’t the driving force behind my somewhat irrational desire to see the film anyway. But I sure was hoping for the best from Rain and for him (or better-than-Speed Racer at the very least).
And although I awaited this movie with great anticipation (for months thanks in part to rottentomatoes for putting it on their “Most Anticipated” list earlier this year), I sadly (being the cynic that I am) did not have hopes of the lofty variety for it. Luckily for me, I can definitely stomach some violence and gore (although I will not go anywhere near the “Saw” films or the like), and a whole lotta Rain. Even though I was well-prepared for the movie in that sense, I certainly was not ready for just how much violence, gore and Rain, there would be.
So for those of you who can’t stand the sight of gory violence and bloodshed, or Rain (it’s ok non-Rain fans-no one is going to force you to see this), this movie is just not for you. Even with a stellar plot, soundtrack, and cinematography this movie still wouldn’t be for you. And considering I can’t remember a thing about the music (what-no Rain?!), all you soundtrack elitists should stay far away too.
But, for those of you already considering seeing a movie for purely entertainment purposes (read: not for profundity or inciting thought-provoking discourse), and somewhat inclined to spend an hour and a half indoors watching a very slick and modern take on the legendary ninja tradition, some remarkable martial artistry and CGI, or just Rain, I say, why not? It’s not like you have anything to lose and it is the only ninja film out at the moment…
Onto my insights! Like the many passings of flatulence after consuming a Thanksgiving meal, Rain’s ninja Raizo, was just as “silent-but-deadly”. He didn’t say much, but when he did it was always important- it would most likely be saving your life or ending it. The other thing about Rain/Raizo’s limited dialogue- less room for bad Engrish! As you all know, I have lambasted poor Rain for his less than perfect English in the past, but he redeems himself in this film-I can’t say whether it was due to his few lines (thank goodness for the lack of Shakespearean monologues here) or many hours spent studying, but Rain delivers each and every one of his (I don’t know, 50?) lines extremely well and with some pretty convincing acting. Moreover, he delivers not only great lines, but also some dead serious butt-kicking!
Inasmuch as we like to poke fun at Rain, and as often as he is on the butt-end of our many jokes, every now again he shows me why he is the sensation and phenomenon he is. And, ladies and gentlemen, it isn’t his good looks, amazing body, or resume that do it-but it’s his due diligence, dedication, and passion that are so impressive.
For him it wasn’t enough to be a KPOPstar or to have acted in one of the most massively popular Korean dramas; he aimed to reach beyond the shores of Hallywood to Hollywood. And though his first foray into Hollywood was a complete and utter FLOP, he was resilient and landed his second role in Hollywood as Raizo, our tall, dark, and stealthy (and sexy!), ninja assassin. And like his ninja character, Rain is committed to seeing his goals through to the end, while fighting away any obstacles that try to stop him, and to come out on top. I can’t say now whether his second strike in Hollywood is a certified success, but in my book, his ambition, drive and improvement-on his English, his crazily chiseled body (there is an incredible scene involving a bed of nails and Rain’s body) and his acting, to name a few- make him anything but a flop.
Rain-fighting!!
as much as i wanna support rain, i m really not going to spend my money to watch the show…
no violence and bloody for me, so sorry rain!
perhaps u can act in some comedy and show off ur hardworking english, doing some kisses, showing some sexiness on screen, then i would really buy a ticket just purely for u ^^
setting joke aside, i m really glad he made the correct move to cast in this show. hopefully all thing goes well for u in the future too!
I’m not a fan of violence and heavy gore either… but I WILL see it for Rain <3.
Btw, how was Lee Joon (Younger Raizo) in this?
excellent, actually. i was very impressed. he had very few lines but had some terrific scenes.
yeh he was really good. i was surprised too.
was expecting Joon to have just a few unimportant scenes. but lo and behold, he was fairly impressive.
joonie had a lot of parts that were pivotal to the story.
(there was one part that was totally romantic for me!)
my mblaq fandom rose to new heights! LOL.
Well of course he had a lot of scenes…He was the STAR of the film duh lol :p
It was AWESOME to me, and this is coming from someone who doesn’t really care for gore movies. The plot wasn’t thick, but who cares when you have all that action? Rain’s lines were few, but who cares when he delivered each one to perfection? There was A LOT of blood, but who cares when you’re completely paying attention to RAIN and the incredible fight scenes? The best thing about this movie to me was the fact that it WAS NOT cheesy. For movies that aren’t meant to be realistic, there are usually plenty of lame, sarcastic one-liners. (Think Batman movies) Believe me, we COULD have been hit with an onslaught of ridiculously lame one-liners that could have killed the movie, but they kept it to an extreme minimum, and when they actually DO crack little jokes (like the part where Raizo talks about that girl’s pants size) they actually make you chuckle a little :)
I think i’ll wait for the DVD. I had a bad theater experience when i went to see Speed Racer. My sister and i were the only one’s in the theater so we decided that fangirling and yelling at the screen was okay. Halfway through the movie i realized that someone was sitting in the way back and had heard everything i said (thankfully it was staff waiting for us to get out so they could clean the theater). After this rather embarrassing incident i decided that i will now only fangirl in the privacy of my own home.
looool that cracked me up
saw the movie and i thought it was great!! i loved the all action scenes and some parts were really funny! oh and lee joon was soo cute even thought he was bald
I think….I will sit this out and wait for the dvd release. I’m okay with blood, gore, violence, dismemberment (to a certain extent), and excessive killing. I’m positively, absolutely, a-okay with hot shirtless guys (even if half the time, they’re just covered with masses of fake, dried up blood), but I still think I’ll just wait. It’s okay if it’s a blockbuster hit, I still won’t watch it. I just don’t think I wanna watch a blockbuster action in the middle of winter. This is the time where I anticipate January for all the good plots and deep storylines.
to be perfectly honest, i was seriously expecting it to faiiill… -_-
but surprisingly, it was worth that $10+ i spent to watch this movie ^^;
good job rainnnnnnnnnn ~!
“I say, why not? It’s not like you have anything to lose and it is the only ninja film out at the moment…”
LOL glowing endorsement. I think I’m going to sit this one out. I’ve never been one to see a movie just because I like an actor in it.
And I don’t need my action movies “profound” but I do want them to be smartly scripted and executed, and this does not seem to be that type of movie. I don’t like it when there’s blood and gore and fighting for the sake of blood and gore and fighting, and not because the fight scene is a significant to the development of the story.
But good luck to Rain. :-)
blood or Rain…hmmmmmmm, what a dilemma.
i watched the movie and it was not really great if you are looking for some kind of oscar nomination but it was quite entertaining. rain surprised me especially of those action scenes and his body..wow! and i can understand his english. to mention also joon, heck this kid can act.
They movie itself was a bit cheesy but mainly because of the other actors in the film. I was surprised at Rain. You could definitely see an improvement on his english and he was really believable in his role, but then again I know he can act. And I forgot that Joon from MBLAQ was in it and when I saw him I was struck. Makes me feel like paying MBLAQ a little bit more attention now. He can actually act.
And while everyone said it’s gory I kind disagree because the way the bloody scenes were done I just ended up likening it to red-paint because the mass amount of blood. Reminded me a bit of Samurai Champloo for some reason too.
i was thinking the same thing. samurai champloo
that movie had more blood and guts than an operating room
but it was a pretty good ninja movie…
go rain!
I went to see it the day it came out and because of my Rain bias and love for violence I LOVED the movie. Rain was awesome in the movie, and there was even a scene or two that he actually made me laugh. I’m so proud of him and this movie.
I mean on a side not I wished the blood didn’t look so cheesy but those fighting scenes were awesome.
OMG, when Joon came on the screen I started fangirling like crazy and I started poking my friend in her side and was like “It’s Joonie! It’s Joonie!” and she was like o.O “who?” and I was like =____= “The hot one from MBLAQ that lifts up his shirt” and then she start fangirling with me after that xD
And Rain’s body…O__________O I LOVED IT. SO SEXY, that scene with the nails…I started making grabbing motions with my hands and people started looking at me weird lol.
Ultimately, Ninja Assassin lived up to it’s name. It was a movie with lots of gore, swordfighting, acrobatics, and blood blood blood. I was a very satisfied woman upon leaving thte movie theater. :)
I want a sequel!!
I won’t lie…..I went to see this movie on the day it came out just because I wanted to see rain.
The movie wasn’t bad as many people expected it to be. I can say it was average. From what I read in the yahoo review, there are other movies that were so terrible or so they said.
I agree with too much blood scenes….which reminded me every minute that how unrealistic it was.
ANd the movie was so short (maybe it was just me thinking) that I didn’t feel like I was in the movie theatre for an hour.
I was also afraid about Rain’s “Engrish”…..but he surprised me. I wish he had many lines..considering he is the lead in the movie.
One other thing, I was surprised to see many people who came to see the movie on the day it came out. Because I and my friend (i had to force her to see it without telling her why I so badly wanted to see it lol) didn’t find seats so we had to see in the front of screen. and it wasn’t pleasant.
overall, it was worth my $10+
OMG it was so worth seeing! I don’t mind gore and to me it was just funny as hell. The scene with the bed of nails awesome (I could die without any regrets after seeing that)! Of course I think my fav. was when they were fighting in the streets and that one guy is coming after Rain. I just kept thinking MACK truck, MACK truck, MACK truck…
Although it wasn’t quite a MACK truck it was just as good!
Most of all I was really surprised that lee joon did as well as he did. I mean he didn’t have many lines or a huge part in the movie but for what he did was good!
I was so proud! I just couldn’t believe it. I thought that maybe this movie would be the butt of many jokes but it was actually really enjoyable! I live in the middle of nowhere basically but so many people actually came to see the movie and liked it. I was so surprised.
So much better than speedracer, thank god!
I went to see it yesterday with a friend, and you know, it was what it was. I know, that is probably one of the singularly most useless sentences in the English language, but seriously, it was what it was.
I didn’t go in expecting an Oscar-winning performance or anything but I did think the film was stuck in between the fields of “completely cheesy” and “trying too hard.” That being said though, I am not a huge fan of Rain either but I will say this about him: I could tell he is an immensely hard worker and I could see why he the successful entertainer he is today.
Also! The history buff in me was astounded when Naomi Harris mentioned the “Eulmi Incident,” aka the Assasination of Queen Min in Korean history. I was reluctantly impressed that the scriptwriters had done some research.
basically it was exactly what we can expect from a freakin ninja movie. it obviously did not take itself too seriously with all the over the top blood and limbs. the opening scene alone was to clue us in that it is supposed to be action but def borderline funny. i mean cmon.. the pompadored yakuza gettin a tattoo and the old ancient asian man with stories of the ninjas of yore. def was a great movie if u look at is as a montage of all the ninja film devices way played up. it was very entertaining and kind of reminded me of an anime as well (with the ninja’s using shunpo and ppl being slice in half with one swipe of the sword).
Rain’s acting was phenominal, he really has talent. I hope even if people do not like this movie they can see rains extreme talent. I kind of hope he dont get pigeon holed into always playing karate masters or something though.
I watched the movie on the day it came out in my state — with my Dad, who kept walking out to either go to the bathroom or buy a soda.
It’s definitely nowhere near my top favorites list, but I thought it was a pretty good movie. I found it entertaining, though not quite memorable. The short-lived romance between Raizo and some girl from the ninja clan was a little unecessary (and I’m not saying this because I’m furious about her lips locking with his) but it was pretty cheesy.
The biggest plus about watching the movie was just… godamn. Rain’s body is seriously one work of ART. it will make your nose bust blood throughout the entire movie. Was NOT loving his hair, but UNF, those abs xD
I actually ended up watching it twice a few days later with some buddies (only because there was nothing else showing that we wanted to watch), and I actually thought it was better the second time round, partly because I knew what to expect, which in this case, was a good thing.
The enormous ammount of bloodspilling though, looked like a fountain of tomato juice. Or red pain :/ Idk, they could have made that more realistic but it was still entertaining.
I’d reccomend watching it. The only REALLY gory part is in the very beginning, but after that, you kind of get used to it. lol It’s entertaining, and you will not regret watching Rain’s body move xD
YESSSS! It was AWESOME to me, and this is coming from someone who doesn’t really care for gore movies. The plot wasn’t thick, but who cares when you have all that action? Rain’s lines were few, but who cares when he delivered each one to perfection? There was A LOT of blood, but who cares when you’re completely paying attention to RAIN and the incredible fight scenes? The best thing about this movie to me was the fact that it WAS NOT cheesy. For movies that aren’t meant to be realistic, there are usually plenty of lame, sarcastic one-liners. (Think Batman movies) Believe me, we COULD have been hit with an onslaught of ridiculously lame one-liners that could have killed the movie, but they kept it to an extreme minimum, and when they actually DO crack little jokes (like the part where Raizo talks about that girl’s pants size) they actually make you chuckle a little :)
omg i loved the movie! i squeaked when rain first popped out of nowhere! lol i thought it was kinda funny…rain surprised me with some witty lines that made me giggle every now and then . i want to go see it again!!! but my goodness rain looked hot!! X_X his hair alone is worth the 10 bucks . the action was awesome! go rain!!
joon was really impressive in this. i loved his character but the girl he kissed wasn’t that pretty. ok i’m just being critical sry. it was a good movie.
news came out that its # 6 in the box office accdg to imdb.
my guy friends liked it. they were entertained by all the fight scenes and gore.
i still have to watch it ( imo… its best to watch movies when you don’t have to line up and you get to choose the best seat)
i love rain (total fanboy) and proud of it but i so thought this movie was going to suck but i went in support of my man with my rain tattoo and korean hip hop t-shirt ready for the horrible before…i was pleasently surprised. i saw new moon first then saw ninja assassin and ninja assassin (for me) was waaaaaaay better. rain had some great one liners and from the moment he walked onto the screen (be still my beating heart) i was drawn in. it had almost everything ( i was waiting for that big romantic kiss between him and naomi harris’s character which i knew wasnt going to happen (come on hollywood show some black/asian love its a beautiful thing) that i love: action, ninjas, asians, love (or in this case like), comedy and a great cast. i walked out wanting to see the movie again and VERY PROUD of my boy. the hard work shows. i cant find any fault with the movie. great job on everyone who had a hand in making it. too bad about the release date though and in my area there is only one theatre playing it but i hope hollywood will look over the money making issues and just look at the acting and give rain more acting gigs. love the credits and they showed his name: RAIN. too cool
Rain is off the chain!!
I just hope he doesn’t get pigeonholed into playing these Hollywood asexual martial arts roles. For those of you who may have been living in a cave the last 30 years,
http://masirjones.blogspot.com/2009/11/influence-of-us-entertainment-asian.html
The guy has a point.
i wanna watch it…. !!!!!
rain !!!
not really something i would recommend to watch. but if you love Rain, just watch it. well i watched it because oof him lol! but really, if you hate blood, not a good film to watch.