Ninja Assassin
Encyclopedia
Ninja Assassin is a 2009
American martial arts film
directed by James McTeigue
. The story was written by Matthew Sand, with a screenplay penned by J. Michael Straczynski
of Babylon 5
. The film stars South Korean pop musician Rain as a disillusioned assassin looking for retribution against his former mentor, played by ninja film legend Sho Kosugi
. Ninja Assassin explores political corruption, child endangerment and the impact of violence. Known for their previous work on the Matrix Trilogy
and V for Vendetta
, the Wachowski brothers, Joel Silver
and Grant Hill produced the film. A joint collective effort to commit to the film's production was made by Legendary Pictures
, Dark Castle Entertainment
and Silver Pictures
. It was commercially distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
.
Ninja Assassin premiered in theaters across the United States on November 25, 2009 earning $38,122,883 in ticket receipts at the North American box office. The film earned an additional $23,467,369 in business through international release to top out at a combined $61,590,252 in gross revenue. The film's budget was $40 million.
assassin in the world. As a child, Raizo (being an orphan) was taken in by Lord Ozuno (Sho Kosugi
) and is enrolled in severe brutal training to become the next successor of their clan. The only generosity he ever receives was from a kunoichi
named Kiriko (Kylie Goldstein), with whom he develops a romantic bond. As time goes on, Kiriko becomes disenchanted with the Ozunu's routine and wishes to abandon it for freedom. One rainy night, Kiriko decides to make her escape and encourages Raizo to join her; however he decides to stay. Branded as a traitor, Kiriko was caught and later executed in front of Raizo by her elder ninja brother Takeshi (Rick Yune
). As a result of Kiriko's death, Raizo begins to harbor resentment and doubt towards the Ozunu. However, this is shown to be in the past. The scene switches to the present where a disguised female assassin (Linh Dan Pham
) attempts to kill Raizo at a laundromat. He successfully fends off all her attacks and succeeds in killing her, leaving her remains in the washing machine.
The scene switches back to the past where Raizo is seated in a car and is instructed by Lord Ozunu to successfully complete his first assassination mission. Afterwards, Raizo meets the rest of his clan atop a city skyscraper in Berlin
. There he is instructed by Lord Ozunu to execute another kunoichi traitor like Kiriko. He rebels against Lord Ozunu by cutting his face with a kyoketsu-shoge and engages in combat against his fellow ninja kin. Barely surviving, he falls over the edge of the skyscraper and into a nearby pool. Raizo recovers from his ordeal and begins to intervene and foil subsequent Ozunu assassination attempts. Meanwhile, Europol
agent Mika Coretti (Naomie Harris
) has been investigating money-linked political murders and finds out that they are possibly connected to the Ozunu. She defies her superior, Ryan Maslow (Ben Miles
), and retrieves secret agency files to find out more about the investigation.
Mika meets Raizo and convinces him to see Maslow for protection as well as to provide evidence against the Ozunu. However, Raizo is arrested by Maslow and abducted by agents from Europol for interrogation. Although feeling betrayed, Mika is assured by Maslow that he is still on her side and gives her a tracking device for emergencies. The Ozunu ninjas infiltrate the Europol safehouse where Raizo is being held in an attempt to kill him and everybody inside. Mika frees Raizo and they both manage to escape, but Raizo suffers near-mortal wounds. Mika then takes him to a motel to hide. Resting in the motel, Mika implants the tracking device into Raizo, as the ninjas remain in pursuit. Unable to fend off the Ozunu, she hides outside the motel until Special Forces arrive to help her. By the time they arrive, the ninjas have already kidnapped Raizo, bringing him before Lord Ozunu for prosecution. During transport back to the Ozunu, Raizo uses his ninja techniques to heal his own wounds.
Europol special forces and tactical teams led by Maslow storm the secluded Ozunu retreat (nestled in the mountains) using the tracking device on Raizo. Raizo kills Takeshi and confronts Lord Ozunu in a sword duel. Mika interferes to help, but is stabbed by Lord Ozunu. Enraged, Raizo uses a 'shadow blending' technique for the first time to distract and kill Lord Ozunu. Mika, seemingly fatally wounded, is in fact saved by a quirk of birth: her heart is actually on the opposite side of her chest
. After Europol leaves, Raizo stays behind to tend to the ruins of the Ozunu retreat. He later climbs the same wall Kiriko did while trying to escape in the past, and looks out at the surrounding countryside. He then recognizes his freedom for the first time.
, in which the actor Rain had impressed the Wachowskis with his portrayal as a fighter. The Wachowskis were dissatisfied with the original script, and hired J. Michael Straczynski
to write a new draft for the film six weeks before it began production.
and on location throughout Berlin.
McTeigue cited various influences in filming Ninja Assassin such as the films Panic in the Streets
(1950), The Getaway
(1972), Badlands
(1973), Ninja Scroll
(1993), and the anime Samurai Champloo
(2004–2005). Actor Collin Chou
was originally cast for an undisclosed lead role after Jet Li
turned down an offer, but Chou later left the role.
released the video game application based on the film for the iPhone.
reported that 25% of 106 sampled critics gave the film positive reviews and that it got a rating average of 4.3 out of 10.
At Metacritic
, which assigns a weighted average
score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 34% based on 20 reviews. While critics generally panned the film as a melange of gore scenes without a convincing plot, some critics commended the film's numerous action scenes.
Mick LaSalle
of the San Francisco Chronicle
described the film as "a gorefest, a borefest and a snorefest."
Joe Williams of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
opined that "this amateurish action flick is so lacking in personality or punch, it ought to be titled 'V for Video Store Discount Bin.'"
Entertainment Weekly
s Chris Nashawaty wrote "...this slick slice of martial-arts mayhem from the producers of The Matrix
is awash in blood. It spurts and sprays in geysers. And it never lets up. There's a brutal (and admittedly very cool) fight scene every five minutes... But let's be honest, killing is this film's business... and business is good."
for his work in Ninja Assassin.
and Blu-ray Disc
formats on March 16, 2010.
2009 in film
The year 2009 saw the release of many films. Seven made the top 50 list of highest-grossing films, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that as of this year, their Best Picture category would consist of ten nominees, rather than five .- Highest-grossing films :Please note...
American martial arts film
Martial arts film
Martial arts film is a film genre. A sub-genre of the action film, martial arts films contain numerous fights between characters, usually as the films' primary appeal and entertainment value, and often as a method of storytelling and character expression and development. Martial arts are frequently...
directed by James McTeigue
James McTeigue
James McTeigue is an Australian film director. He has been an assistant director on many films, including No Escape , the Matrix trilogy and Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones , and made his directorial debut in the 2006 film V for Vendetta.Born on Sydney's North Shore, he grew up in...
. The story was written by Matthew Sand, with a screenplay penned by J. Michael Straczynski
J. Michael Straczynski
Joseph Michael Straczynski , known professionally as J. Michael Straczynski and informally as Joe Straczynski or JMS, is an American writer and television producer. He works in films, television series, novels, short stories, comic books, and radio dramas. He is a playwright, a former journalist,...
of Babylon 5
Babylon 5
Babylon 5 is an American science fiction television series created, produced and largely written by J. Michael Straczynski. The show centers on a space station named Babylon 5: a focal point for politics, diplomacy, and conflict during the years 2257–2262...
. The film stars South Korean pop musician Rain as a disillusioned assassin looking for retribution against his former mentor, played by ninja film legend Sho Kosugi
Sho Kosugi
Sho Kosugi is a Japanese martial artist with training in shindō jinen-ryū karate who gained popularity as an actor during the 1980s, usually playing a ninja. He is the father of Kane Kosugi and Shane Kosugi. After taking a hiatus from film, he started a taiko group in California...
. Ninja Assassin explores political corruption, child endangerment and the impact of violence. Known for their previous work on the Matrix Trilogy
The Matrix (franchise)
The Matrix is a science fiction action franchise created by Andy and Larry Wachowski and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. The series began with the 1999 film The Matrix and later spawned two sequels; The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, both released in 2003, thus forming a trilogy...
and V for Vendetta
V for Vendetta (film)
V for Vendetta is a 2005 dystopian thriller film directed by James McTeigue and produced by Joel Silver and the Wachowski brothers, who also wrote the screenplay. It is an adaptation of the V for Vendetta comic book by Alan Moore and David Lloyd...
, the Wachowski brothers, Joel Silver
Joel Silver
Joel Silver is an American Hollywood film producer, co-creator of the sport of Ultimate, co-founder of Dark Castle Entertainment and owner of Silver Pictures.-Life and career:...
and Grant Hill produced the film. A joint collective effort to commit to the film's production was made by Legendary Pictures
Legendary Pictures
Legendary Pictures is an American film production company, whose parent company, Legendary Entertainment, is based in Burbank, California and was founded by Thomas Tull in 2004...
, Dark Castle Entertainment
Dark Castle Entertainment
Dark Castle Entertainment is a division of Silver Pictures, a production house affiliated with Warner Bros. It was formed in 1999 by Joel Silver, Robert Zemeckis, and Gilbert Adler...
and Silver Pictures
Silver Pictures
Silver Pictures is a film production company founded by Hollywood producer Joel Silver during 1985. All movies after Ricochet have been distributed by Warner Bros and its subsidiary New Line Cinema.-Films:-Television series:*Moonlight...
. It was commercially distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
.
Ninja Assassin premiered in theaters across the United States on November 25, 2009 earning $38,122,883 in ticket receipts at the North American box office. The film earned an additional $23,467,369 in business through international release to top out at a combined $61,590,252 in gross revenue. The film's budget was $40 million.
Plot
Raizo (Rain) is raised by the Ozunu Clan to become the most lethal ninjaNinja
A or was a covert agent or mercenary of feudal Japan specializing in unorthodox arts of war. The functions of the ninja included espionage, sabotage, infiltration, and assassination, as well as open combat in certain situations...
assassin in the world. As a child, Raizo (being an orphan) was taken in by Lord Ozuno (Sho Kosugi
Sho Kosugi
Sho Kosugi is a Japanese martial artist with training in shindō jinen-ryū karate who gained popularity as an actor during the 1980s, usually playing a ninja. He is the father of Kane Kosugi and Shane Kosugi. After taking a hiatus from film, he started a taiko group in California...
) and is enrolled in severe brutal training to become the next successor of their clan. The only generosity he ever receives was from a kunoichi
Kunoichi
is the term for a female ninja or practitioner of ninjutsu .-Etymology:The term is thought to derive from the names of characters that resemble the three strokes in the kanji character for ; said in the order they are written: ku - no - ichi...
named Kiriko (Kylie Goldstein), with whom he develops a romantic bond. As time goes on, Kiriko becomes disenchanted with the Ozunu's routine and wishes to abandon it for freedom. One rainy night, Kiriko decides to make her escape and encourages Raizo to join her; however he decides to stay. Branded as a traitor, Kiriko was caught and later executed in front of Raizo by her elder ninja brother Takeshi (Rick Yune
Rick Yune
Richard "Rick" Yune is a Korean American actor, screenwriter, producer, and martial artist.Yune, a Korean American, was born in Washington D.C. He is the older brother of actor Karl Yune...
). As a result of Kiriko's death, Raizo begins to harbor resentment and doubt towards the Ozunu. However, this is shown to be in the past. The scene switches to the present where a disguised female assassin (Linh Dan Pham
Linh Dan Pham
Linh Dan Pham is a French actress.She was born in Saigon, South Vietnam, but moved with her family to France a year later just before the fall of Saigon to North Vietnamese and Viet Cong's forces and grew up in Paris...
) attempts to kill Raizo at a laundromat. He successfully fends off all her attacks and succeeds in killing her, leaving her remains in the washing machine.
The scene switches back to the past where Raizo is seated in a car and is instructed by Lord Ozunu to successfully complete his first assassination mission. Afterwards, Raizo meets the rest of his clan atop a city skyscraper in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
. There he is instructed by Lord Ozunu to execute another kunoichi traitor like Kiriko. He rebels against Lord Ozunu by cutting his face with a kyoketsu-shoge and engages in combat against his fellow ninja kin. Barely surviving, he falls over the edge of the skyscraper and into a nearby pool. Raizo recovers from his ordeal and begins to intervene and foil subsequent Ozunu assassination attempts. Meanwhile, Europol
Europol
Europol is the European Union's criminal intelligence agency. It became fully operational on 1 July 1999....
agent Mika Coretti (Naomie Harris
Naomie Harris
Naomie Melanie Harris is an English screen actress. She is best known for her starring role as Selena in 28 Days Later, as well as her supporting turn as Tia Dalma/Calypso in the second and third Pirates of the Caribbean films...
) has been investigating money-linked political murders and finds out that they are possibly connected to the Ozunu. She defies her superior, Ryan Maslow (Ben Miles
Ben Miles
Ben Miles is an English actor, best known for his starring role as Patrick Maitland in the British TV comedy Coupling, from 2000 to 2004.-Life and career:...
), and retrieves secret agency files to find out more about the investigation.
Mika meets Raizo and convinces him to see Maslow for protection as well as to provide evidence against the Ozunu. However, Raizo is arrested by Maslow and abducted by agents from Europol for interrogation. Although feeling betrayed, Mika is assured by Maslow that he is still on her side and gives her a tracking device for emergencies. The Ozunu ninjas infiltrate the Europol safehouse where Raizo is being held in an attempt to kill him and everybody inside. Mika frees Raizo and they both manage to escape, but Raizo suffers near-mortal wounds. Mika then takes him to a motel to hide. Resting in the motel, Mika implants the tracking device into Raizo, as the ninjas remain in pursuit. Unable to fend off the Ozunu, she hides outside the motel until Special Forces arrive to help her. By the time they arrive, the ninjas have already kidnapped Raizo, bringing him before Lord Ozunu for prosecution. During transport back to the Ozunu, Raizo uses his ninja techniques to heal his own wounds.
Europol special forces and tactical teams led by Maslow storm the secluded Ozunu retreat (nestled in the mountains) using the tracking device on Raizo. Raizo kills Takeshi and confronts Lord Ozunu in a sword duel. Mika interferes to help, but is stabbed by Lord Ozunu. Enraged, Raizo uses a 'shadow blending' technique for the first time to distract and kill Lord Ozunu. Mika, seemingly fatally wounded, is in fact saved by a quirk of birth: her heart is actually on the opposite side of her chest
Dextrocardia
Dextrocardia is a congenital defect in which the heart is situated on the right side of the body. There are two main types of dextrocardia: dextrocardia of embryonic arrest and dextrocardia situs inversus...
. After Europol leaves, Raizo stays behind to tend to the ruins of the Ozunu retreat. He later climbs the same wall Kiriko did while trying to escape in the past, and looks out at the surrounding countryside. He then recognizes his freedom for the first time.
Production
Ninja Assassin was directed by James McTeigue, and produced by Joel Silver and the Wachowski brothers. The project was inspired by the ninja scenes featured in the Wachowskis' 2008 film Speed RacerSpeed Racer (film)
Speed Racer is a 2008 American live action film adaptation of Tatsuo Yoshida's 1960s Japanese anime series of the same name, produced by Tatsunoko Productions. The film is written and directed by the Wachowskis...
, in which the actor Rain had impressed the Wachowskis with his portrayal as a fighter. The Wachowskis were dissatisfied with the original script, and hired J. Michael Straczynski
J. Michael Straczynski
Joseph Michael Straczynski , known professionally as J. Michael Straczynski and informally as Joe Straczynski or JMS, is an American writer and television producer. He works in films, television series, novels, short stories, comic books, and radio dramas. He is a playwright, a former journalist,...
to write a new draft for the film six weeks before it began production.
| "One day I got a call from the Wachowski Brothers, who are friends of mine. And they said we need some help on something, can you meet us tomorrow and talk about something. I met with them and they had a draft for this movie called Ninja Assassin which wasn't where they wanted it to be. And they said we need a whole new draft, a whole new script, and we go to camera in six weeks. And I said, "Okay, when do you have to have the scripts?" And they said it had to go out to actors that Friday. So I went home and put on a pot of coffee, and I wrote essentially a whole new script in 53 hours." |
| —J. Michael Straczynski, writer |
Filming
Filming began in Berlin, Germany at the end of April 2008. Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg provided filmmakers US$1 million in funding, and Germany's Federal Film Fund provided an additional US$9 million to the film's funding. Filming took place in Babelsberg StudiosBabelsberg Studios
The Studio Babelsberg, located in Potsdam-Babelsberg, Germany, is the oldest large-scale film studio in the world. Founded in 1912, it covers an area of about . Hundreds of films, including Fritz Lang's Metropolis and Josef von Sternberg's The Blue Angel were filmed there...
and on location throughout Berlin.
McTeigue cited various influences in filming Ninja Assassin such as the films Panic in the Streets
Panic in the Streets (film)
Panic in the Streets is a 1950 film noir directed by Elia Kazan. It was shot exclusively on location in New Orleans, Louisiana and features numerous New Orleans citizens in speaking and non-speaking roles....
(1950), The Getaway
The Getaway (1972 film)
The Getaway is a 1972 American action-crime film directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw.The film is based on a novel by Jim Thompson, with the screenplay written by Walter Hill...
(1972), Badlands
Badlands (film)
Badlands is a 1973 American crime drama film written and directed by Terrence Malick, starring Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek. Warren Oates and Ramon Bieri are also featured. Malick has a small speaking part although he does not receive an acting credit...
(1973), Ninja Scroll
Ninja Scroll
is a 1993 Japanese animated action thriller film set in feudal Japan, written and directed by Yoshiaki Kawajiri who was best known for his previous thriller Wicked City . The character designs were done by Yutaka Minowa. The movie is in homage to the Ninpōchō series, ninja novels by Futaro Yamada...
(1993), and the anime Samurai Champloo
Samurai Champloo
is a Japanese anime series created and directed by Shinichirō Watanabe. It was broadcast in Japan from May 20, 2004 through March 19, 2005 on Fuji TV. Samurai Champloo has earned Watanabe a renowned title in the anime and Japanese television communities...
(2004–2005). Actor Collin Chou
Collin Chou
Collin Chou , sometimes credited as Ngai Sing, is a Taiwanese actor and martial artist based in Hong Kong known in the United States for his portrayal of Seraph in The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions as well as the Enter the Matrix video game...
was originally cast for an undisclosed lead role after Jet Li
Jet Li
The fame gained by his sports winnings led to a career as a martial arts film star, beginning in mainland China and then continuing into Hong Kong. Li acquired his screen name in 1982 in the Philippines when a publicity company thought his real name was too hard to pronounce...
turned down an offer, but Chou later left the role.
Video game
On November 5, 2009, Warner Bros. EntertainmentWarner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
released the video game application based on the film for the iPhone.
Critical response
The film generally received negative reviews. Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reported that 25% of 106 sampled critics gave the film positive reviews and that it got a rating average of 4.3 out of 10.
At Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, which assigns a weighted average
Weighted mean
The weighted mean is similar to an arithmetic mean , where instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others...
score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 34% based on 20 reviews. While critics generally panned the film as a melange of gore scenes without a convincing plot, some critics commended the film's numerous action scenes.
Mick LaSalle
Mick LaSalle
Mick LaSalle is an American Mick LaSalle is an [[United States|American]] Mick LaSalle is an [[United States|American]] [[film reviewer] and the author of two books on pre-[[Motion Picture Production Code|Hays Code]] Hollywood...
of the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
described the film as "a gorefest, a borefest and a snorefest."
Joe Williams of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is the major city-wide newspaper in St. Louis, Missouri. Although written to serve Greater St. Louis, the Post-Dispatch is one of the largest newspapers in the Midwestern United States, and is available and read as far west as Kansas City, Missouri, as far south as...
opined that "this amateurish action flick is so lacking in personality or punch, it ought to be titled 'V for Video Store Discount Bin.'"
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
s Chris Nashawaty wrote "...this slick slice of martial-arts mayhem from the producers of The Matrix
The Matrix
The Matrix is a 1999 science fiction-action film written and directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, and Hugo Weaving...
is awash in blood. It spurts and sprays in geysers. And it never lets up. There's a brutal (and admittedly very cool) fight scene every five minutes... But let's be honest, killing is this film's business... and business is good."
Box office
Ninja Assassin opened at #6 at the North American box office earning $13,316,158 in its first opening weekend. The film grossed $38,122,883 in North America and $22,339,464 in other territories, totaling $60,462,347 worldwide. In Japan, this film opened on the March 6, 2010 in only one movie theater in Shinjuku and then also opened on the March 20 in Osaka. Ninja Assassin earned 2,214,000 yen (Approximately $25,672 U.S.) during its first opening weekend in Shinjuku.Awards
On June 9, 2010, Rain was awarded the "Biggest Badass" award on the MTV Movie AwardsMTV Movie Awards
The MTV Movie Awards is a film awards show presented annually on MTV . It also contains movie parodies that used official movie footage with hosts and other celebrities and music performances. The nominees are decided by producers and executives at MTV. Winners are decided online by the general...
for his work in Ninja Assassin.
Home media
Ninja Assassin was released on DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
and Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
formats on March 16, 2010.