Mask of the Ninja (2008) Movie Review, Trailer, Film Still and Poster

USA 2008
Director: Bradford May
Cast: Casper Van Dien, Kristy Wu, Anthony Wong, Yuji Okumoto, Bellamy Young
Rating: R
Release Date: 26 April 2009
Running Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

The Movie Review

Mask of the Ninja film still 1


MASK Of The NINJA
Storyline:
Cast:
Ending:
Overall:

It doesn't take long for me to snatch this movie down at the video store. As a ninja movie fans whose gaze always locked up onto the screen every time this masked assassin showed up, I was hoping to have a nostalgic moments of the American Ninja era back in the 80s where Michael Dudikoff was still very active in the movie world. However, back then I wasn't too critical as I am now, still with enough slashin' n stalkin', I would be glad to recommend this for ninja fans. And you know what? I do recommend it...

Mask of the Ninja starts with an incident in the big mansion owned by a wealthy Japanese man named Takeo (Dana Lee) who lives with his hot daughter Miko (Kristy Wu). A couple of Ninjas from the Kokushibyu Clan are sneaking and killing all the guards of the mansion before finally they cruelly murder Takeo witnessed by Miko who's in hiding. Certainly this killing spree would not go unnoticed by the local cop. And so they send Jack Barrett (Casper Van Dien) along with his partner Gina (Bellamy Young) to investigate. But it turns out this Ninjas are not everyday villains who they could arrest easily. Lucky for Miko, who's the next target, she is helped by the family guardian Hirohito (Anthony Wong) who seems to have personal business with Kokushibyu's leader Kenji Nikano (Yuji Okumoto). And so gruesome fighting are inevitable with a bit of betrayal and drama that follow Jack and Miko's journey to find the truth behind the mysterious killing of Miko's father.

In terms of B-movie cinema, the actors' performances are good, the story is o.k., the cinematography is o.k. (beautiful scenery) and the intense action scenes are good. We got enough bullets, swordfighting, explosion and chasing scenes that will not leave us feeling bored. Hey! The body count is surprisingly high! Although there is one interrogating scene that employs excessive violence which some of horror fans might even turn their face away, which means it's a lame attempt to shock the audience. Unfortunately the ninja fights are not that good, what we got is a massacre of cops! With all the swift sword prowess of the ninja and the ninja stars, all we got is powerful ninjas versus their powerless opponent. The ninja fighting scenes between Hirohito and the Kokushibyu's ninjas or between Jack and the ninjas are ruined by the camerawork. With highly (and I mean Highly) unnecessary zoom-in/zoom-out, close-up and shaken camera just make all the supposed to be intense viewing become a dizzy experience. This isn't shocking for me, knowing that Mask of the Ninja was directed by the same person who directed Ring of Death (2008).

Just like Ring of Death, Mask of the Ninja is also an action film made for TV. So in short conclusion, if you like ninja movies and really miss the old days of ninja craze, Mask of the Ninja is a worth enough seeing. Even though watching G.I. Joe: the Rise of Cobra (2009) which has Snake Eyes ninja character in it would be more satisfying in overall term. Still, it's a mindless simple entertainment for ninja fans.