Rating: 4/10

Writers: Matthew Sand (screenplay) & J. Michael Straczynski (screenplay), Matthew Sand (story)
Director: James McTeigue
Cast: Rain, Naomie Harris, Rick Yune, Ben Miles
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures

You do not expect a movie called NINJA ASSASSIN to be boring. What you do expect is high amounts of entertaining and stylized action from a film with this title and its trailers, especially when you consider the film is from V FOR VENDETTA director and Wachowski brothers protégé, James McTeigue. Translation = not boring; unfortunately, this is not what you will get.

The fact that NINJA ASSASSIN turned out as boring as it did is stunning. How could this happen with a story that centers on one of world’s coolest creations, ninjas, as well as a director that proved his action and visual chops with V FOR VENDETTA? Well, the film does deal with a tale of a rogue ninja taking revenge on his former clan, but the problem is this that story is intertwined with a plot line that amounts to that of a bad international thriller.

Also, tragically the ninja stuff is, for the most part, just not done well. The action sequences are full of severed body parts, massive amounts of fake CGI blood, and cheesy effects like the stealth movement of the ninjas, but not enough impressive or skillfully executed actual action. The gory way the ninja’s victims are usually taken out could be taken as an homage to the past blood-spattered samurai and ninja films, but when there is not much to the action scenes, like in NINJA ASSASSIN, it comes off as gross and lazy and not exciting.

The “Ninja Assassin” himself is Raizo (Korean pop star Rain), a man trained in the ways of the ninja since his early childhood. Via flashbacks throughout the film, we learn what led to Raizo forsaking his clan and striking out on his own, and why he wishes vengeance against his former clan. A pretty basic story, except Raizo’s goal aligns with those of a government agent, Mika (Naomie Harris), who through research has began to connect Raizo’s former clan with the assassinations of many people. Mika’s investigations and discoveries lead to many bland and not very thrilling revelations and lame procedural discussions. Who cares about listening to the policies of the made-up agency that Mika works for in NINJA ASSASSIN? Probably not many, but they are still responsible for several uninvolving scenes in this NINJA movie.

Sadly, the ninja-centered moments are not much more interesting than the Mika moments. Nothing learned or seen in Raizo’s flashback are too interesting or stimulating. The exception would be our look at Raizo’s first hit, one of the few flashes of violence that actually entertains, with Raizo’s attempt not going as smooth as he would hope.

The film also has less actual action than you would think, with Mika occupying much of the film’s running time. On top of that, the action is often disappointing, reverting to blood rather than thrills. There are a few, but not many, well-choreographed fight moments, and a few just is not going to cut it in a movie titled NINJA ASSASSIN.