Ninja Assassin Review

This is the movie that you guys have been waiting for! Rain re-enters Hollywood with his newest movie, Ninja Assassin. This action-packed blockbuster is quite a lot to take in one sitting but seeing Rain on the big screen is definitely worth the trip.

The title pretty much speaks for itself - this movie revolves around Raizo (Rain), a young man that succeeds after years of training to become not only a ninja assassin, but one of the deadliest assassins in the world. He breaks free from his clan and keeps training to seek revenge against his old clan for a friend. In Europe, an agent finds the world of ninjas fascinating and decides to investigate it. The Ozunu Clan, Raizo's old clan, finds out and is out to get Mika, the agent, and Raizo as well.

So what was I expecting? Definitely something along the lines of an action packed flick with lots of sword-swinging and violence. What did I get? Lots of sword-swinging and even more violence than I thought was ever possible. To be blunt, Ninja Assassin is the bloodiest movie I have ever seen - 90% of this film is blood and gore, and the adrenaline rush was never-ending. If you thought Wanted or Kill Bill was bad, think again.

As expected, Rain is the main character; however, he didn't have any lines longer than five words. Despite the drawback, I still give it up to the singer-actor for pulling off this transformation and successfully turning on the tough and sexy factor. Although the long hair will undoubtedly receive mixed reviews from fans and non-fans alike, I don't think any girl can deny how good Rain looks without a shirt on, deep scars and all.

With such a huge movie under his belt, I'm guessing people will know him as "the ninja" or "the guy who kills everyone" - much different from the sexy dance pop star image he has back home. It's pretty clear that this movie is all about the action - despite the adrenaline-rushing scenes, the storyline isn't particularly unique and the acting isn't top-notch. Furthermore, some fans will be puzzled (or relieved) by the fact that Lee Joon of MBLAQ who played a younger version of Raizo (Rain) in the movie had a kiss scene yet Rain never puckered up! What's up with that?

Despite the contrast, Rain's roots do peek through in the movie - at one point, a policeman refers to Rain as somebody "who looks like he's in a boy band."

When Rain made his Hollywood debut with Speed Racer, many people were disappointed with his overall performance. For those of you who thought he didn't do his best in that racing flick, you'll probably be happier with this one. Apparently, Ninja Assassin director James McTeigue had seen Rain's potential and nurtured it to produce Rain's improved performance in Ninja Assassin. In this film, he had more time to show off his acting and combat skills. All of that time Rain spent building up that six-pack definitely paid off.

It's good for Rain that he's getting his name out there and representing Korea in a Hollywood action movie as the main man. Ninja Assassin is an entertaining action flick that will have you either throwing up or have you yelling "YEAH!" throughout all the fight scenes. Though we don't think this will be an Oscar winner or an NYTimes pick of the year, Rain definitely gave it his all and kicked some major ninja ass!

Source: Allkpop / heartfacee