Ninja Assassin poster - in theaters this week

I have a weakness for Asian movies with lots of bakbakan. That shouldn’t come off as a big surprise to my family, really. I mean, back in the days when cable TV was nonexistent in the provinces, I would watch The Drunken Master every weekend. Weekend in, weekend out. “I teach you Kung fu,” I would say in Jackie Chan accent, pointing to my nose.

So when I learned that Ninja Assassin was in theaters last week, I couldn’t resist not watching it right away. Nevermind the fact that the main actor is Korean pop star Rain and the film did not exactly get fantastic reviews from the critics, I was still all giddy with the fact that it has lots of impossible flying stunts and ninja tumblings and that the film is produced by no less than the Wachowski brothers of The Matrix.

The Synopsis

Raizo (Rain) is one of the world’s deadliest assassins, having been orphaned as a child and raised by the Ozunu Clan, believed by the world to be a myth. When the love of his life is executed by the Clan for betrayal, Raizo begins to harbor resentment towards the Clan. When his first official mission is completed, he is told to execute one of his fellow members for the same reason his lover died. He rebels against them, nearly dying in the process, and goes into hiding, seeking revenge on his former Clan. Meanwhile, Mika Coretti (Naomie Harris) is a Europol agent who investigates money linked to political murders and finds that it is linked to the Ozunu Clan. She defies her superior, Ryan Maslow (Ben Miles), and retrieves secret agency files to find out more. The clan, finding out about the investigation, attempts to assassinate her, but she is rescued by Raizo. Hiding in Berlin, Raizo and Mika must find a way to take down the Ozunu Clan permanently. – Wikipedia

My Take on the Movie

Being a kung fu-lover all my life, the movie appealed to the Beatrix Kiddo in me. I could not keep my eyes off the crazy ninja stunts (but would look away from the screen from time to time due to gore — oh wait, gore is an understatement) nor the perfectly graceful acrobatic thingamajigs. The storyline is interesting, albeit common (a college English professor once said, “all stories are love stories”). It has the ’sickness’ factor and the gore factor of Battle Royale, coupled with the kick-ass martial arts display of Kill Bill and The Matrix. All in all, it’s a good movie to watch over iced tea (oh don’t bother bringing in food, you won’t be able to eat it anyway).

Still in theaters this week.