NINJA ASSASSIN

The plot of "Ninja Assassin" is, well, who cares there's a whole lot of action! This martial arts flick is way more fun than it should be and rightfully so, there is only about 20 minutes without action and the action has an aquarium-full of blood in it.

"Ninja Assassin" stars pop singer/sensation Rain as Raizo, an orphan who grew up in a ninja/kung-fu community and was taught to be a ninja from when he was born. When the leader (or "father" as he likes to be called) kills Raizo's love after she tries to run away, Raizo leaves and is hunted by his fellow ninja friends. This somehow gets an attractive researcher and every government in the world involved in trying to find Raizo. The world powers think Raizo is behind assassinations around the world, but the people who are actually responsible for them are his old schoolmates from ninja school! Oh no! Sound confusing? Half of this summary is just guess work because almost no plot is actually revealed in the film.

Plot really does not mean much in a movie like this, and it is a nice change of pace. In winter when all the intense Oscar movies come out, it's good to have a fun flick to fall back on when none of the Oscar films are at the theater. The action in the film is just amazing, loads of CGI blood is splattered around the screen (and the walls) and Raizo's knife-attached-to-a-string-weapon-thing is the sickest weapon since the extendable claw in Jet Li's "Fearless". Although almost every action scene is in the dark, it is still hard to miss the Matrix-like slow-mo and bullet-time that plays throughout the movie, and did I mention the blood?

The acting is not that good, Naomie Harris (who plays the researcher) is adequate but Rain is just plain awful. He delivers his lines so poorly that many trigger laughs, but his action delivers awe, and this kind of makes up for his acting. The directing is okay, but once again, the action is incredible. People fly through the air, get cut in half, decapitated, disemboweled, and there (of course) is blood everywhere!

"Ninja Assassin" will be more than adequate for any martial arts fan, and it is just a fun time. The bad does outweigh the good though, and every movie does need some kind of plot. This has none.

Verdict: WAIT FOR VIDEO

**.5/***** (2.5/5 stars)