"Revenge Of the Ninja" asks the viewer to believe that a professional assassin and stealth killer can do his best work while wearing a silver skull mask with two dime sized eye-holes that completely obscures his peripheral vision.
It stages a fight scene between a 60+ year old Japanese grandmother and the professional killer, and hopes that we won't notice that the stunt double back-flipping away from the killer is several inches taller and many pounds slimmer.
It stages a fight scene between a blonde bimbo in a red negligee/GI and a hammy little 9 year old and hopes that the viewer won't laugh so hard at the size mismatch, the obvious stiffness and clumsiness of the blond and the obvious inability of the little kid to actually hurt someone, that the viewer gives himself a hernia.
It asks the viewer to politely ignore a completely depraved attitude towards women . The poor actress who plays the blond bimbo must have been absolutely desperate to accept a part like this, as her character alternates between being duped, manipulated, mesmerized, beaten up by a little kid, tortured, and sexually molested.
It asks the viewer to endure a completely contrived fight scene where Kosugi and his karate champ buddy (Keith Vitale?) interrogate a group of toughs assembled from Central Casting, fight them all in rapidly alternating jump cuts between Vitali and Kosugi, beat the crap out of all of them, and then leave without asking any of the questions they came to ask.
It asks also asks the viewer to politely ignore the fact no one in this film can act, although a couple of the cast members can project an attitude - Sho Kosugi does 'stoic dignity' well, and the actor who plays Braden embodies every melodramatic villain since John Philip Law played 'Diabolik'. The little kid, while obviously fit and supple and unafraid of the camera, is a classically annoying child actor. The blond is at the mercy of a script that hates her and all women who aren't submissive grandmothers.
But you know something? It's still enjoyable if you turn your brain off and just drink it in. Do NOT seek "Revenge of the Ninja" out under any circumstance, but if someone wants to play for you at their house, or it appears on cable, grab yourself a liter of warm sake and enjoy!
It stages a fight scene between a 60+ year old Japanese grandmother and the professional killer, and hopes that we won't notice that the stunt double back-flipping away from the killer is several inches taller and many pounds slimmer.
It stages a fight scene between a blonde bimbo in a red negligee/GI and a hammy little 9 year old and hopes that the viewer won't laugh so hard at the size mismatch, the obvious stiffness and clumsiness of the blond and the obvious inability of the little kid to actually hurt someone, that the viewer gives himself a hernia.
It asks the viewer to politely ignore a completely depraved attitude towards women . The poor actress who plays the blond bimbo must have been absolutely desperate to accept a part like this, as her character alternates between being duped, manipulated, mesmerized, beaten up by a little kid, tortured, and sexually molested.
It asks the viewer to endure a completely contrived fight scene where Kosugi and his karate champ buddy (Keith Vitale?) interrogate a group of toughs assembled from Central Casting, fight them all in rapidly alternating jump cuts between Vitali and Kosugi, beat the crap out of all of them, and then leave without asking any of the questions they came to ask.
It asks also asks the viewer to politely ignore the fact no one in this film can act, although a couple of the cast members can project an attitude - Sho Kosugi does 'stoic dignity' well, and the actor who plays Braden embodies every melodramatic villain since John Philip Law played 'Diabolik'. The little kid, while obviously fit and supple and unafraid of the camera, is a classically annoying child actor. The blond is at the mercy of a script that hates her and all women who aren't submissive grandmothers.
But you know something? It's still enjoyable if you turn your brain off and just drink it in. Do NOT seek "Revenge of the Ninja" out under any circumstance, but if someone wants to play for you at their house, or it appears on cable, grab yourself a liter of warm sake and enjoy!