Review of Ninja Scroll (1993) by Robot K — 20 Aug 2010

It's hard to describe the impact Ninja Scroll had on me. Needless to say it played a role in sending me to art school.

I think that it's safe to say that Ninja Scroll is perhaps the best fantasy ninja movie around, and although that may not be saying much on it's own, the fact that it needs to overcome the handicap of animations not being taken seriously as works of film speaks volumes.

Beautifully drawn and animated, shockingly gory, and slightly sexually disturbing (being raped by a stone golem for instance), Ninja Scroll tells the story of a nomad swordsman coerced by a government spy into hunting down a group of demons, and facing a devil from his own past. Along the way he is joined by a vindictive lady ninja, and together they uncover a plot that involves stealing gold, poisoning a village, something about a mine, and a bunch of other stuff that no one who watches the movie really cares about.

Ninja Scroll falls short of perfection because of it's narrative. Although facing the devils of Kimon individually gives the film many cool and original elements, you can't help but feel that you are watching a video game, where the player goes from one level to the next, until eventually reaching the last boss for the grand finale. I suppose many viewers would like the film precisely for that reason.

However, the story invokes a deep and complex subplot which is only touched upon, with one or two very brief flashback moments, all of which you are expected to understand in order to understand the character's motivations. I believe if the writers dove deeper into this element, the film would've been much more conducive towards the type of storytelling that the mythological characters warrant(perhaps the movie's pre-title prologue beginning during the events of the mine, Jubei killing Gemma, and then resuming 5 years later after the title).

There were also some character back stories that contributed very little to what was the real appeal of the film (Gemma's bisexuality, or Kagero's poisonous....well, whatever). I suppose that the story of Kagero, a ninja who because of her commitment to her clan cannot physically love, and therefore shuts off her emotions, but finds her Deus Ex Machina when Jubei needs to make love to her to counteract his poison- I suppose it adds SOMETHING to the story, yet I cant help but feel that the brevity of their adventure doesn't add credence to their emotions, and with no prior friendship beyond the 1 day in which they spend together, it feels impossible to take their love seriously, and the whole thing becomes an unnecessary side-story.

Still, even with these flaws, Ninja Scrolls is not a movie to be missed. 80%.