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Ninja Assassin (2009)

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All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 4.3/10
Reviews Counted: 112
Fresh: 29 | Rotten: 83

Overly serious and incomprehensibly edited, Ninja Assassin fails to live up to the promise of its title.

Average Rating: 4.5/10
Critic Reviews: 21
Fresh: 6 | Rotten: 15

Overly serious and incomprehensibly edited, Ninja Assassin fails to live up to the promise of its title.

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Average Rating: 3.3/5
User Ratings: 186,097

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Movie Info

V for Vendetta director James McTeigue re-teams with that film's producers Larry and Andy Wachowski for this action-packed tale of a skilled assassin who was trained by a mythical secret society, and patiently awaits the day he will avenge the death of his best friend. Swept off the streets as a young boy, Raizo (Korean pop star Rain) is transformed into an unstoppable killing machine by a secret society known as the Ozunu Clan. The Ozunu Clan is so proficient at keeping their existence a secret

R, 1 hr. 39 min.

Drama, Action & Adventure

Directed By: James McTeigue

Written By: Matthew Sand, J. Michael Straczynski

In Theaters: Nov 25, 2009 Wide

On DVD: Mar 16, 2010

Box Office:$38.1M

Warner Bros. Pictures/Dark Castle Ent.

The problem is that the fight sequences -- the only reason anyone sees a movie like this in the first place -- are muddy, chaotic and boring. Even diehard fans of this genre would be well advised to skip this one.

November 30, 2009 Full Review Source: At the Movies

| Comments (14)

A.O. Scott

At the Movies

Top Critic

This saga, set in Berlin, is more committed to its bloodletting than to any of its characters.

November 25, 2009 Full Review Source: New York Times

| Comments (4)

Jeannette Catsoulis

New York Times

Top Critic

A movie that provides plenty of jolts but precious little pleasure.

November 25, 2009 Full Review Source: Washington Post

| Comment

Dan Kois

Washington Post

Top Critic

This movie knows exactly what it is: Gonzo silliness about bodies turned into human salsa.

November 25, 2009 Full Review Source: New York Post

| Comments (5)

Kyle Smith

New York Post

Top Critic

Shouldn't throwing stars be silent? If they're gonna sound like gunshots, why not just use guns?

November 25, 2009 Full Review Source: Village Voice

| Comments (5)

Brian Miller

Village Voice

Top Critic

It's a gorefest, a borefest and a snorefest.

November 25, 2009 Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle

| Comments (2)

Mick LaSalle

San Francisco Chronicle

Top Critic

Ninja Assassin re-opens the door to a genre that has either been absorbed into conventional action movies via pilfered fight choreography or completely forgotten as a viable, creative foundation for interesting stories.

February 15, 2012 Full Review Source: SciFi.com

| Comment

Todd Gilchrist

SciFi.com

It would be hard to expect any surprises from a film called Ninja Assassin, but on the other hand, it would be hard to be disappointed by it either. It does exactly what it says on the tin.

April 20, 2011 Full Review Source: ComingSoon.net

| Comment

Joshua Starnes

ComingSoon.net

has too much story for one movie and ends as merely a mildly entertaining ninja actioner...

April 2, 2011 Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed

| Comment

Felix Vasquez Jr.

Cinema Crazed

An East meets West splatterfest unfolding like a lethal cross of Crouching Tiger and Sam Peckinpah.

March 28, 2010 Full Review Source: Sly Fox

| Comment

Kam Williams

Sly Fox

... it's like a music video of violence that has lost the beat and doesn't care.

March 25, 2010 Full Review Source: Seanax.com

| Comment

Sean Axmaker

Seanax.com

The grindhouse thrills hold no pretense, and McTeigue doesn't waste his time trying to woo the unconverted.

March 17, 2010 Full Review Source: Mania.com

| Comment

Rob Vaux

Mania.com

For a film that shows such obvious care in its production values, there is surprisingly little content involved. (Blu-ray Edition)

March 11, 2010 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis

| Comment

John J. Puccio

Movie Metropolis

...one, long, martial-arts fight.... Given the talents involved, we have to mourn what might have been.

March 7, 2010 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis

| Comment (1)

John J. Puccio

Movie Metropolis

Dumb and dumber German troops, homicidal hotties into doing laundry, creative enemy amputations without benefit of anesthesia, and martial arts hostile takeover of big bucks bank accounts that could have gone the less frenzied route of identity theft.

February 13, 2010 Full Review Source: NewsBlaze

| Comment

Prairie Miller

NewsBlaze

Decent ingredients but, as a whole, this is lacking in choreographic flair and plot substance.

January 22, 2010 Full Review Source: Empire Magazine

| Comments (2)

Will Lawrence

Empire Magazine

A garish and poorly filmed chop-socky frolic that makes about as much sense as an Escher painting viewed through Vaseline-smudged Ray-Bans.

January 22, 2010 Full Review Source: Time Out

| Comment

David Jenkins

Time Out

Ninja Assassin is final proof that the once innovative Wachowski Brothers have indeed lost their creative mojo.

January 22, 2010 Full Review Source: Times [UK]

| Comment

Kevin Maher

Times [UK]

The fight scenes are uninspired and I suspect post-pubescent audiences will be very bored.

January 22, 2010 Full Review Source: Guardian [UK]

| Comment

Peter Bradshaw

Guardian [UK]

The fight scenes are mostly great. And Rain, so dashing in Speed Racer, is something to behold. His precisely rippled and defined body is awe-inspiring.

January 22, 2010 Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph

| Comments (3)

Sukhdev Sandhu

Daily Telegraph

It truly wouldn't take much - a minor re-edit, a few arch looks to camera, a wiseacre sidekick named 'Shortballs' - to inch this utterly mystifying throwback into spoof territory.

January 22, 2010 Comment

Adam Lee Davies

Little White Lies

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Ninja Assassin

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An interesting action flick with a throw back to all the ninja movies of the past. Awesome slick stylized fight scenes with lots of blood shed and tons of great ninja stuff. Automatic ninja stars for the win.

November 28, 2009

John Manard

Super Reviewer

Lots and lotsa fight scenes (with lotsa them in the dark so's you can't see nothing) and lots and lotsa blood, lots of it, buckets and buckets, body parts flooding in blood, blood, blood, blood, and some dialogue on the side. The only movie I ever saw made for vampires and not about them (like a sort of Vampire Food

May 15, 2012

moon rivers

Super Reviewer

Ninja Assassin Quotes

View All

1. Lord Ozunu: Wherever you are, wherever you may go, you must never forget who you are. You are part of me, as I am part of you. This is the truth of your lives, and it will remain true after death.
– Submitted by Kyle S (5 months ago)
1. Raizo: The breath I take after I kill you will be the first breath of my life.
– Submitted by Shelinda F (6 months ago)
1. Mika: I took a Tae Bo class once, but that is the extent of my kung-fu abilities.
– Submitted by troy r (9 months ago)
1. Lord Ozunu: Most children are disappointments. Not worth the effort to raise.
– Submitted by troy r (9 months ago)
1. Kingpin: Its going to take more than a knitting needle to fuck me up boy!
– Submitted by Chris P (13 months ago)

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