Review of Ninja Assassin (2009) by Simon L — 14 Nov 2011

I often find myself wondering at the power of cinema to make us believe the impossible. I don't just mean the willing suspension of disbelief: I mean the way our perception of the world can be subtly altered by a good movie. This isn't one of those. This is the opposite of one of those.

For several months after watching Batman Begins I really believed that, dramatic license aside, Batman could exist. He doesn't. He never has. He never will.

Ninjas on the other hand, have existed. Now after watching this film, I don't believe in them. The fight scenes contain too much CGI and the film lapses into semi-mystical bullshit after spending the first half-hour trying to convince us that ninjas could be real in our contemporary world, a la Batman. Fail.