I am happy to report the upcoming release of Ninja Assassin, a brand new ninja movie directed by James McTeigue who has worked on the Matrix movies and has also directed the excellent V for Vendetta. The movie is a big budget studio flick and marks the return of the ninja movie proper. Ninja’s have featured in a few films in the last several years (Azumi being the most notable for me) but this the first time since the 1980’s, the heyday of the ninja movie, that an entire film has been dedicated to the stealth assassin.
Ninja Assassin follows Raizo (Rain), one of the deadliest assassins in the world. Taken from the streets as a child, he was transformed into a trained killer by the Ozunu Clan, a secret society whose very existence is considered a myth. But haunted by the merciless execution of his friend by the Clan, Raizo breaks free from them and vanishes. Now he waits, preparing to exact his revenge.
In Berlin, Europol agent Mika Coretti (Naomie Harris) has stumbled upon a money trail linking several political murders to an underground network of untraceable assassins from the Far East. Defying the orders of her superior, Ryan Maslow (Ben Miles), Mika digs into top secret agency files to learn the truth behind the murders. Her investigation makes her a target, and the Ozunu Clan sends a team of killers, led by the lethal Takeshi (Rick Yune), to silence her forever. Raizo saves Mika from her attackers, but he knows that the Clan will not rest until they are both eliminated. Now, entangled in a deadly game of cat and mouse through the streets of Europe, Raizo and Mika must trust one another if they hope to survive and finally bring down the elusive Ozunu Clan.
Going by the trailer, the movie looks to be very well made (as you would expect these days) and looks to have plenty of ninja/martial arts action going on in it. It also features eighties ninja movie legend, Sho Kosugi, reason enough to watch for me. Check out the trailer below and judge for yourself.
Staying on the ninja theme, I’ll be counting down my top ten ninja movies of all time in the next post, so stay tuned.
Protect your face with MMA headgear.
