Ninja Assassin

[ktkungfu]

Movie suckedddddddddddd!

Should have been more about the ninja clan then some girl wondering around.

[Zenshiite]

Speaking of ninjas... does anybody know if there are any online communities of people that do fan translations of Futaro Sanada's ninpocho novel series? Kind of like there are the wuxia fan translators?

I know only Koga Ninpocho has been officially translated into English, the one that Basilisk is based on.

[BoulderDawg]

This film is really bad.

It was always so dark you could barely see it. Also they would rapidly cut from scene to scene and move the camera around. I couldn't really tell what was going on half the time.

[Hebrew Hammer]

This film is really bad.

It was always so dark you could barely see it. Also they would rapidly cut from scene to scene and move the camera around. I couldn't really tell what was going on half the time.

Agreed, would have liked to see some slowing down and some reverse angle type stuff...you never actually see them throwing the Shurikens.

[GeneChing]

According to Boxofficemojo.com

Domestic: $21,010,000 100.0%
+ Foreign: n/a 0.0%
= Worldwide: $21,010,000

Opening Weekend: $13,135,000
(#6 rank, 2,503 theaters, $5,248 average)
% of Total Gross: 62.5%

#6 ain't bad for a ninja movie.

'New Moon' tops at box office again with $42.5m
David Germain, Associated Press
Monday, November 30, 2009
(11-30) 04:00 PST Los Angeles - --

Vampires and werewolves continued to howl at the box office with a $42.5 million weekend for "The Twilight Saga: New Moon."

Summit Entertainment's "Twilight" sequel remained No. 1 over what proved a record Thanksgiving weekend for Hollywood. But "New Moon" was nearly blindsided for the top spot by a real-life football drama.

"The Blind Side" had a great second weekend with $40.1 million, coming in at No. 2 just behind "New Moon." Released by Warner Bros., the inspirational story of Baltimore Ravens tackle Michael Oher stars Sandra Bullock as a woman whose wealthy family takes in the homeless teen and enrolls him in private school.

The two movies propelled Hollywood to record revenues over the five-day Thanksgiving period, at an estimated $275 million.

New wide releases had so-so results this weekend. Disney's family comedy "Old Dogs" came in at No. 4 with $16.8 million for the three-day weekend and $24.1 million since opening Wednesday.

The Warner Bros. action tale "Ninja Assassin" opened at No. 6 with $13.1 million over the weekend and $21 million since Wednesday. "Fantastic Mr. Fox" pulled in $7 million to finish at No. 9.

[BoulderDawg]

I think word of mouth will get out and this movie will drop off the cliff next week.

[doug maverick]

considering the cast of virtual unknowns save kosugi who is technically still unknown to the general populace.. and the R rating. the budget was probably no more then 30-40 million. ad another 25-30 for promotion and i say it made back a thrid of its budget. not bad, it'll break even in the box office domestically but its going to be a beast over seas. especially in korea and japan. and when it goes to dvd and we see the "unrated version" it'll do better.

[GeneChing]

I think it's fascinating timing that this is released in the U.S. on the same day as Red Cliff. It's such a barometer of Asian film vs. Hollywood that I've been toying with writing an essay on it for our ezine. Red Cliff was a Goliath of a film in terms of budget and blockbuster status. Ninja Assassin has 'beast' potential for the Asian market for sure. In fact, it almost feels like it was designed to target that market more than the U.S. market, despite the auspicious release date. I'm just happy to see a major Hollywood release with an Asian male lead, as well as a ninja flick. I love ninja flicks.

As for next week, well, look at the season. Next week is Armored, Brothers, and Everyone's Fine. The following week is Invictus. And then, on the 18th, Avatar. During the Xmas rush, it's hard to stay on the charts for longer than a week or so.

[Jimbo]

I thought it actually turned out okay; a lot better than I was expecting it to be. I have seen far, far worse ninja movies, including all of Sho Kosugi's 1980s ninja films. And regarding the poor camerawork, I think they did that to accentuate the stealth and chaos during the ninja attacks, and to make what was happening more 'mysterious'. Not saying I really liked the bumpy, choppy and dark photography/editing, just what I believe the effect is they were trying for.

IMO, Sho Kosugi makes a better villain than he made a lead. And I'd never heard of Rain before this, but he did okay. Better than some of the overseas Asian stars making their American debuts.

I was a bit annoyed by some of the outdated, fortune-cookie style of dialogue by the tattoo artist/yakuza at the beginning, and some of it by Kosugi. I'd still like to see more, better Asian films in the States, but Ninja Assassin was a *lot* better than the live-action Blood: The Last Vampire movie. But I doubt it will last long in theaters. Most MA movies released here don't, if they even make it in theaters, esp. once the novelty wears off. It'll make its real $ on DVD. I'd probably give it a 5 out of 10.

[Zenshiite]

I thought to movie was great. Whatever the flaws are, and there are flaws(for instance, all the scenes in the Ozuna clan's fortress and between members of the clan being in English dialogue rather than Japanese), this movie delivered in a serious way. I didn't mind the darkness and the obscurity of the martial arts... it made sense to me within the narrative and especially considering that our point of view is never really the point of view of the Ninja... but rather, of the outsiders who got swept up into this mess and are running away from these terrifying assassins. First it's the Yakuza, then it's this poor little forensics researcher that has no clue what she got herself into.

Now, before I went to the theater to see Ninja Assassin today I watched Isaac Florentine's Ninja while eating breakfast. That movie, while some are referring to it as superior to Ninja Assassin, does not deliver and isn't nearly half as exciting as Ninja Assassin. In fact, it's no different than your average 80s ninja flick. Especially American Ninja what with the main character basically being Joe Armstrong with a slightly different back story. Ninja showcases the martial arts aspect, but it's not a stronger film for it. It lacks the impact and tension of Ninja Assassin. At least Ninja has most of the training with the dojo parts in Japanese though.

That said, Ninja Gaiden still needs a feature film... and preferably with a different Ryu Hayabusa than Kane Kosugi this time. That would make for an awesome ninja flick.

[doug maverick]

I think it's fascinating timing that this is released in the U.S. on the same day as Red Cliff. It's such a barometer of Asian film vs. Hollywood that I've been toying with writing an essay on it for our ezine. Red Cliff was a Goliath of a film in terms of budget and blockbuster status. Ninja Assassin has 'beast' potential for the Asian market for sure. In fact, it almost feels like it was designed to target that market more than the U.S. market, despite the auspicious release date. I'm just happy to see a major Hollywood release with an Asian male lead, as well as a ninja flick. I love ninja flicks.

As for next week, well, look at the season. Next week is Armored, Brothers, and Everyone's Fine. The following week is Invictus. And then, on the 18th, Avatar. During the Xmas rush, it's hard to stay on the charts for longer than a week or so.

yeah i think its super interesting that warner's (currently the most powerful studio btw. with nine billion dollar years in a row) decided to release this movie over thanksgiving. its an end of the summer movie for sure. not a fall/winter holiday film. but i think your right gene, the us might be the launching pad for the asian market. as for red cliff, again this movie could have been marketed much better, since you have a hit video game based off the same subject matter, they could have linked the two and released the film on at 800-1000 screens....and should have been an end of summer early fall release.

[Zenshiite]

I'm actually really surprised that Red Cliff wasn't marketed in conjunction with Dynasty Warriors. For a button masher, that's one of the hugest and most fun games ever made. Everybody loves that stuff, especially when you're playing with friends. Hell, that's why I got into Romance of the Three Kingdoms in the first place.

[doug maverick]

well the reason for that is simple....most of the people in film marketing are like a thousand years old, and really have no idea whats going in the world...

[Lucas]

one of the things i liked most about this movie, that no other live action ninja movies have ever really done, is the horror like quality imbued in the shadow ninjas. the way they mold from shadow to shadow and pass through the light between shadows unseen is kinda freaky.

really reminded me of the second movie in the darkhorse alien series, aliens, for some reason.

Ninja Vs Predator !!!!!!


i did play ninja gaiden 2 when i got home from watching that movie though, just for some nice ninja slaughtering fun

[GeneChing]

Funny you should mention that. I'm not a videogame person so I always forget about that. But by strange coincidence, this came up last night at kung fu practice. One of my shidi said me he went to see Red Cliff on my recommendation and he loved it because he had spent hours playing Dynasty Warriors, so he knew the story very well. He hadn't put together that the huge statue in our school was Guanyu because we usually call him Guan Gung, when we call him anything at all. It was delightful to share a bit of history with him (given my job, it's quite a reflex). I guess that should be on the Red Cliff thread.

Then one of my former shimei dropped by and was glowing about seeing Ninja Assassin. She was totally smitten with Rain. There's the dealmaker for me - when a major film makes it sexy to be an Asian male martial artist. What was the last film that was carried by an Asian male lead? I honestly can't think of one. Forbidden Kingdom was fronted by Angarano. Jackie's films have all been buddy films with Tucker or Wilson. Something from Chow Yun Fat maybe? I don't know. Anyway, you get my point. If Rain inspires my shimei to come back to practice, that's what it's all about.

Mostly, it's a ninja film. When you go to see a ninja film, it's like seeing Friday the 13th. You don't expect oscar-worthy performances. The ninja film genre is very unique and very special. I'm delighted to see it rekindled.