This film is about two Ninja tribes, Manjidani and Tsubagakure, who have been at war for 400 years. Due to a restriction to fight, the tribes have been hiding out in the mountains. They are called by the shogun to have a competition, the 5 best fighters from both tribes will have a duel until one is standing.
Many people may have thought that the film was based on Shinobi the video game made by Sega, and were very disappointed at the film. However, the film itself is aweseome. I really liked the concept of the film, I'm not sure how true it is historically, but the cinematography, the music, the special effects, the action sequences, and the story were all well done. The actors were pretty good for the most part, costume design is cool as well. It seems as if the director had borrowed many ideas from anime or other ninja like films. I'm not sure if that was intentional, or maybe I don't know enough about Japanese history, but some of the characters were very similar to animes such as Ninja Scroll or Ballistik. Yes, even Kagero was in this film. Also as a bonus, Ayumi Hamasaki sings her song "Heaven" for this film. One of the rare action/drama films from Japan that I would recommend. B+
2 comments:
Shinobi is a classic Romeo and Juliet story with an anime twist. The Shakespeare-esque part of forbidden love between the main leads from feuding tribes is a complete failure. The fighters lack depth and character. They fight and then they die... but we ain't shedding no tear. Why? Because we don't feel a thing for the characters, so we don't care if they get axed. Here, distinction between genre almost gets blurred, and tragedy becomes comedy.
True, the action sequences is well done and the cinematography is great, but the lack of personality pretty much ruined what could've been a contender.
While the film may not carry the depth and drama enabling it to be worthy of reviving the japanese action films, it definately deserves props for trying and incorporating anime characters from heavyweight favorites such as Ninja Scroll.
Shinobi is another perfect example of how a movie could have been great but ended up been a mediocre, average movie (ok, above average)
B-
That's true, there was very little character development, with 10 characters and some extras...the film was just too short. But you do have to like Kagero. :) After some additional research, it looks like it was based on a book written by Yamada Futarou. In addition, it may have been 10 ninjas from each clan.
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