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Zarifah
Ninja Assassin star Rain trained for eight months to achieve zero body fat
Ninja
Assassin star Rain trained for eight months to achieve zero body fat
Assassin star Rain trained for eight months to achieve zero body fat
At the first press conference held in Seoul for
Rain's second Hollywood film, Ninja Assassin, the Korean superstar revealed how
he suffered and went through several hardships during the past eight months.
Rain's second Hollywood film, Ninja Assassin, the Korean superstar revealed how
he suffered and went through several hardships during the past eight months.
During the eight months, he underwent six hours of
wushu training daily to maintain his body fat level at zero. Nine out of 10
stunts shown in the movie were done by the actor himself.
wushu training daily to maintain his body fat level at zero. Nine out of 10
stunts shown in the movie were done by the actor himself.
"I was once injured, but those are glorious
scars and injuries," said Rain who also shared that he watched a couple of
Bruce Lee movies as a reference for his role in Ninja Assassin.
scars and injuries," said Rain who also shared that he watched a couple of
Bruce Lee movies as a reference for his role in Ninja Assassin.
Although he once had thoughts of giving up when
filming got tougher, he said, "I once promised my fans that I will shoot a
movie that will be acclaimed all over by critics. Secondly, it is due to pride.
When I tirelessly lifted up a 100 kg dumbbell, workers who once taught Brad
Pitt and Matt Damon agitated me by saying this 'They are more persistent than
you'. That sentence really ignited my fighting spirit. Thirdly, I want to show
my results towards the media who defamed and looked down on me."
filming got tougher, he said, "I once promised my fans that I will shoot a
movie that will be acclaimed all over by critics. Secondly, it is due to pride.
When I tirelessly lifted up a 100 kg dumbbell, workers who once taught Brad
Pitt and Matt Damon agitated me by saying this 'They are more persistent than
you'. That sentence really ignited my fighting spirit. Thirdly, I want to show
my results towards the media who defamed and looked down on me."
He also found inner strength in his late mother's
memory. Speaking of his deceased mother, the 27-year-old poignantly said,
"When my mother was alive, she would wake up at 5am and head to work,
working till nightfall. When she reached home at 12am, she still has to do the
household chores. When I think about all these, I know that I have to bear with
it no matter how tough it gets."
memory. Speaking of his deceased mother, the 27-year-old poignantly said,
"When my mother was alive, she would wake up at 5am and head to work,
working till nightfall. When she reached home at 12am, she still has to do the
household chores. When I think about all these, I know that I have to bear with
it no matter how tough it gets."
Ninja Assassin will make its premiere in Singapore
on Nov 26.
on Nov 26.
Source: Yahoo Singaporehttp://sg.news.yahoo.com/xin/20091111/ten-189-ninja-assassin-star-rain-trained-3c1b9bc.html
[10아시아]
[스타ON] 비│“내 이름을 알린다는 건 세계를 정복하는 것”
[10아시아]
[스타ON] 비│인터뷰 비하인드, W의 기록
비 ‘닌자 어쌔신’, 예매율 1위 싹쓸이
비 vs 제라드 버틀러, 두 남자의 복수혈전 ‘눈길’
비, 6년연속 개인 브랜드파워 1위 '기염'
비 '닌자어쌔신', 北美 2503개 스크린서 개봉
CNN "비, 도전을 두려워하지 않는 인물" 극찬
비, '닌자'로 '스피드' 부진 설욕할까?①
비 '닌자어쌔신', 韓美 온도차이 크다②
비, '나쁜남자' 성공의 법칙③
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Zarifah
11.25.09 “Ninja Assassin” tops advance ticket sales
Hollywood movie “Ninja Assassin” starring Asian superstar Rain is racking up ticket sales prior to its release tomorrow (today!!!!!).
The much-anticipated action flick is topping ticket reservation charts on various Internet websites in Korea, according to statistics posted on the KOFIC (Korean Film Council) electronic network.
As of Wednesday morning, the real-time ticket reservation rate for “Ninja Assassin” stood at 39.84 percent on Maxmovie, 32.96 percent on Interpark and 28.71 on Ticketlink, surpassing the figures for Hollywood blockbuster movie “2012″ which has topped the Korean box office for two consecutive weeks.
“Ninja”, produced by the famous Wachowski Brothers of the “Matrix” trilogy and directed by James McTeigue of “V For Vendetta”, stars Korean singer and actor Rain alongside other Korean or Korean-American actors such as Randall Duk Kim, Sung Kang, Rick Yune and Lee Joon of idol group MBLAQ.
Rain played the lead role of Raizo in the film, hyped as one of the 50 most anticipated films of the year by U.K. newspaper The Times and one of the top 10 movies selected by the San Francisco Examiner.
“Ninja” is set for worldwide on November 26.
by: Lynn Kim lynn2878@asiae.co.kr
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ratoka
Ninja Assassin Review - Cinemalogue
RAIN
(left) as Raizo in Warner Bros. Pictures’, Legendary Pictures’ and Dark
Castle Entertainment’s action film NINJA ASSASSIN, a Warner Bros.
Pictures release. Photo by Juliana Malucelli
In contrast to this week’s Asian epic, Red Cliff, Ninja Assassin is pure shlock—hysterically entertaining. Directed by James McTeigue (V for Vendetta),
the action flick opens with a Yakuza gangster getting tattoed by an old
man (Randall Duk Kim). Angered by the tattoo master, he brandishes a
golden handgun and threatens violence. The old man spots a sealed
envelope containing black dust. This, he warns, is the mark of a ninja
assassin so powerful he may as well be a demon. Inside of a minute, the
gangster and all his cronies are thrashed, slashed and hacked to pieces.While splattering and spraying a shade of red that humans just do not bleed, the stealthy ninja isn’t a demon. He is Raizo, played by Asian pop superstar Rain; there’s an inside joke when one Europol agent quips he looks like he’s in a boy band. Raizo was orphaned at youth and picked up by Ninjutsu master Ozunu (martial arts flick veteran Shô Kosugi). He and other students were beaten, kicked, berated and traumatized into becoming merecenary assassins to aid in Ozunu’s commercial gain.
He’s as devoted a disciple of the way of the ninja as ever there has been. However, his breaking point is reached when a fellow ninja abductee he likes, Kiriko (Anna Sawai) is maimed by Ozunu for disobedience. The only positive force in Raizo’s life, she escapes the training camp, and he is left with nothing but his rage. It’s a shallow parable of unrequited love, protective instincts, and so on, but the film doesn’t drown you in it or take itself too seriously—whole pints of fake blood sloshing this way and that.
The tension mechanism involves two investigators for Europol, Maslow (Ben Miles) and Mika (Naomie Harris). Mika uncovers connections between several clans, including the Ozunu clan, convincing Maslow to let her pursue it further despite his initial objections. This is, of course, just the semblance of a plot thrown together from many cop dramas as the fluff between action sequences of violence porn.
But it’s reliable violence porn. Hand-to-hand combat is delivered by the busload—literally. At one point, Ozunu’s students come after Raizo one after another, like expendable video game characters. I wondered what bus they drove in to get there. Minutes later, Raizo escapes out a window and lands on… a VW bus!
There’s no particular mystery or intrigue going on here. The only astonishing thing is, with the degree of injuries that Raizo sustains, there’s no threshold for a viewer to ascertain at what point he is actually in mortal danger. At any time that he looks he might be, ninja magic can be invoked and—poof—he’s healed. One minute he’s chained to a wall, and the next he’s miraculously freed with just fractions of a second to spare before men with guns riddle him with bullets.
Produced by the Wachowskis—Larry and Andy—who rose to fame with The Matrix, and an homage to Asian martial arts films and Japanese Anime, Ninja Assassin fetishizes violence to the point where it’s simply absurd to question the logic or physics at work. The only complaint might be that the limits of the actors’ abilities as martial artists are concealed in shadows—tight angles; footage sliced and diced more than Raizo’s victims. It’s nowhere near the calibre of martial artistry as to be found in Shô Kosugi’s classics, including Nine Deaths of the Ninja.
As a viewer, your only task here is to watch, eat popcorn, and laugh, jump or shriek—whichever works for you—whenever you see heads roll, limbs fly or or hemoglobin spurting.
Red Cliff opens Wednesday, November 25, at the Angelika Film Center at Mockingbird Station in Dallas.
sourcehttp://www.cinemalogue.com/2009/11/25/ninja-assassin/
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ratoka
Sound Off: Ninja Assassin -Your Thoughts? Firstshowing
http://www.firstshowing.net/2009/11/25/sound-off-james-mcteigues-ninja-assassin-your-thoughts/
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ratoka
We talk to Korean pop sensation Rain over sushi
Rain is a Ninja Assassin
We talk to Korean pop sensation Rain over sushi.
by
Nov 25, 2009
Nov 25, 2009
We first interviewed Korean pop sensation Rain two Comic Cons ago for Ninja Assassin.
The film is finally out this weekend and we got to catch up with Rain
over sushi. How cool is that? Sushi with Rain. Overlooking the Hollywood hills, Rain enjoyed the fruits of his hard work, and his relative privacy in the states, in a one on one interview.
Crave Online: You don’t have follow the ninja diet anymore.
Rain: Yeah. Just I want chocolate and junk food, French fries. Do you know Japanese bento and Korean food? So sweet, so delicious.
Crave Online: What was your favorite sequence in the film?
Rain: My favorite is the rooftop sequence and the final fighting scenes.
Crave Online: What makes ninjas unique to other martial arts?
Rain: It’s so unique because it’s so bloody. I killed a lot.
Crave Online: What will attract audiences to learn about the mystery of ninjas?
Rain: Just shadow and darkness. It’s so different than other action movies.
Crave Online: How do you make it so we can see what you do in the darkness?
Rain: There’s
just red or black. When I was doing stunts, I couldn’t see the enemy.
For that reason, I have lots of cuts. The only difficulty I probably had
was doing stunts because I couldn’t see the enemies fully because of
the darkness. I just got some cuts on my body. That’s the only
difficulty I had.
Crave Online: You got some real injuries?
Rain: Yeah, my face was cut, my body was cut.
Crave Online: You’re so charismatic as a singer, did you have to strip away your personality to be a ninja?
Rain: Yes, I was just focused on my character. I am Raizo, I am Raizo, I am Raizo, always. I hypnotized myself to believe I’m Raizo.
Crave Online: Can you really do pushups on a bed of nails?
Rain: Ah,
that was a green box. It’s CG. There’s just safety wires but for that
scene, I just practiced standing upside down for a few months. It was
hard.
Crave Online: The chain looks awesome but is it really a a useful weapon?
Rain: Yeah,
better than a sword. One of the difficulties we had during shooting
using the chain was because I had to do it once with the laser, once
with the real chain and once also for another cut just to have the whole
thing. So every shot I had to do three times.
Crave Online: Is it hard to fight with prosthetic wounds on?
Rain: Right, they’re so sticky. During stunts, the prosthetics would fall off. They would have to stop and try again.
Crave Online: Tell us about the laundry room fight.
Rain: That’s the easy part. That was so easy, just no acrobatics, no wires, just the easy part.
Crave Online: How about your sword and chain katas?
Rain: All
the scenes in my room that you see were choreographed on the set that
day. So all the training that I’ve done and choreography I’ve done
previously for eight months was preparing me to be able to improv all
the choreographies on the set.
Crave Online: What was difficult about the bathroom fight?
Rain: Yeah,
that was real. A real fighting sequence. My opponent was so big, he
could actually lift me up and throw me. That’s why it was difficult.
Crave Online: Did you get banged up for real?
Rain: Mm hmm.
sourcehttp://www.craveonline.com/entertainment/film/article/rain-is-a-ninja-assassin-91253
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ratoka
Ninja Assassin Review - Boxoffice
Fan boys will flip for this bloody flick
Director James McTeigue re-teams with his V for Vendetta
producers Joel Silver and brothers Andy and Larry Wachowski to mine
countless ninja video games, anime and decades worth of martial arts
movies for his bloodied action movie, Ninja Assassin. Working
with screenwriters Matthew Sand and J. Michael Straczynski (from an
original story by Sand), McTeigue provides enough wire-fu fights and
stylish gore to please the fan boys who expect ample bloodletting from
an R-rated action movie. Casting Korean pop sensation Rain as the lead
ninja, Raizo, will deliver a core Asian fan base, especially young
women, to the movie. An example of holiday counter-programming at its
goriest, Warner Bros. will experience strong support from young male
action buffs but poor reviews will hamper chances at blockbuster-level,
crossover business.
A young boy trains under the leader of the secret Ozunu Clan (martial arts veteran Sho Kosugi) but escapes after his fellow student and girlfriend is killed. Now an adult living in Berlin, Raizo (Rain) faces off against his former ninja brothers when he helps pretty Europol agent Mika Coretti (Naomi Harris) track down the Ozuna Clan and stop their business of assassinations-for-hire.
McTeigue and his extensive team of stunt coordinators keep the action crisp and the bloodletting stylish throughout Ninja Assassin, a movie that has already spawned an iPhone/iPod touch game application. Its standout sequences which include a gory battle between young yakuza and ninjas at the start of the film, a frantic fight between speeding cars on a busy Berlin motorway and the climactic battle between Raizo and his teacher in a burning mountaintop retreat, offer slick violence equal to a Takashi Miike film and a level of brutality worthy of the great Kinji Fukasaku (Battle Royale).
Ninja Assassin features the familiar plot of a student rebelling against an evil master, it’s a plot that’s easy-to-follow thanks to popular ninja video game and numerous martial arts movies. It's hard to fault Sand and Straczynski for wanting to upend a proven formula. A series of flashbacks explaining Raizo's past drags down the middle of the film and prevents Ninja Assassin from becoming a modern martial arts classic on the level of the Kill Bill films or Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
Naomie Harris (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and At World's End) deserves credit for bringing a strong female presence to the testosterone-heavy movie. Harris makes her Europol forensics detective strong, brave and willing to face whirling blades and non-stop gunfire. Sho Kosugi squeezes every ounce of melodrama out of the flashback scenes of candlelight instruction and sadistic blood rituals. Granted, the dialogue may be laughable at times but it's still a joy to hear Kosugi deliver the words with his raspy voice.
Rain, who starred in the Wachowski Brothers film Speed Racer, kicks the film to life whenever he appears onscreen. Rain is charismatic and impressively buffed as the film's baby-faced assassin and ruthless as a master killer with a weapon resembling a flying guillotine. While a sequel for Ninja Assassin is unlikely, despite being set up for one, expect more Hollywood work for the talented 27 year old Korean pop star.
At times the film's severed heads and gushing blood bring to mind the faux trailer for the Eli Roth horror Thanksgiving. After all, just how bloody can a Hollywood holiday release be? (Warners moved Ninja Assassin up from a planned 2010 release.) To their credit, Silver and the Wachowski Brothers understand fan boys who will drive earnings above the previous Silver/Wachowski production Speed Racer. The promise of extensive bonus clips means these same fans will also line up for Ninja Assassin on home video making bloody ninjas a good business movie for Warner Bros.
Distributor: Warner Bros
Cast: Rain, Naomie Harris and Sho Kosugi
Director: James McTeigue
Screenwriters: Matthew Sand and J. Michael Stracynski
Producers: Joel Silver, Andy Wachowski, Larry Wachowski and Grant Hill
Rating: R for strong bloody stylized violence throughout, and language.
Running time: 99 min.
Release date: November 25, 2009
sourcehttp://boxoffice.com/reviews/2009/11/ninja-assassin.php
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ratoka
Joel Silver interview with Collider.com talking about Rain
Question: I want to start off by asking the big question. How is it that since “Roger Rabbit” you haven’t been acting?
Joel Silver: That was it. I did it. I did my acting performance in “Roger Rabbit”. I think I did a voice-over also in “Osmosis Jones” and I directed an episode of my show years ago, “Tales from the Crypt” and that’s my endeavors in the non-producer oriented ranks.
They havn’t come after you for “Entourage”?
Silver: I think I did one. I think I did one thing where I was at the Laker game with “Entourage” once but that was it.
Is it something you’d want to do though? Have they asked you?
Silver: I’m happy with my place in the firmament here. I like to produce movies and that’s where I want to be. I’m not looking to….I’d like to build my company and make a bigger company always, but I think in the behind the scenes arena is where I’d prefer to spend my time.
Well, this is probably the first Ninja movie we’ve seen in at least 20 years, what are the things about Ninja legends that appeal to you and will appeal to audiences?
Silver: Look, we wanted to make a Martial arts movie. That’s what we wanted to do. I mean, when I made my deal…when I put the deal together for “Dark Castle” which is a self-funded entity which distributes through Warner Brothers, I was talking to an executive at Warner’s. He said what you really ought to do is you ought to develop a new Martial arts star. He said we’ve never been able to do that. I mean that’s not what we do. And, you know, they have had a history of having very successful movies with Martial arts stars. I mean back to Bruce Lee and Steven Segal and Jet Li and they’ve made a lot of Martial arts movies with kind of personalities who the audience accepted who could do that kind of activity. And he said if you can find one, it can be great. And when we met Rain and we saw what he could do in “Speed Racer” we thought here’s a guy. So we actually designed “Ninja Assassin” around him to make it for him. So that was the intention-to build a Martial arts star. And I think we did. I think if the audience agrees with us and if they feel that they accept him as this guy, I think he can make a lot of movies.
But Rain is a Korean and Ninja is Japanese, I’m Japanese so when I saw this movie and they cast Rain and he’s Korean. Hollywood has a trend of taking a Japanese character and people cast a Japanese actor and Japanese/American actor, but why do you guys cast a Korean?
Joel Silver and Susan Downey (3).jpgSilver: Well, we made a point of saying it was an orphanage that these people were taken from all over Asia and he wasn’t necessarily Japanese. It just was a…Martial arts tends to be a Chinese…most of the big Martial arts stars that I’m aware of…it’s the Kung Fu is a Chinese esthetic. When we did “The Matrix” I mean we were combining kind of Japanese animation, which was a style with Chinese martial arts, I mean it kind of is as an Asian influence but there are movies, I mean, that are Hollywood movies. I mean, Jet Li is really a Chinese martial artist, but he worked in American movies. But I don’t think that we are confining ourself to just a Japanese style. I mean, this is a movie that has Asian influence, but it’s a movie for the whole world. It’s a movie designed to attract a world audience.
Do you think there is a Chinese maybe actor that could be very handsome and tall you could get a Chinese or is it just because of Rain that you think that he is actually right for the character?
Silver: Well he had a tremendous athletic ability to be able to do these kind of…look Steven Segal is neither, you know? I mean, he was just very good at what he did. But, you know, I think that Rain had great sense of this kind of style of fighting and acrobatics and because of his dance experience he was able to do unbelievable feats and a lot of this was not involving wire-work either. I mean, there is wire-work in the movie, but when we did “The Matrix” I mean, all of them-Keanu and Carrie Ann Moss and Hugo Weaving and Laurence Fishburne, I mean there was a lot of really serious wire-work where they were in harnesses a lot. And we tried to make this movie a different kind of martial arts, much more rooted in being attached to the Earth so much. It’s not so much flying as it is kind of athletic ability. And I think that he has that ability. And it wasn’t as if we were, you know I mean, and this movie most of the stunt people-the 2 guys who did the design work-Chad and Dave-were American guys who had worked with us and with Woo Ping and all the guys on the other movies and they had understood the process of staging and creating these fights. So it was kind of an international movie more or less.
Was there ever a longer cut than 92 minutes?
Ninja Assassin movie poster.jpg
Silver: I think it went through a few versions until we got where we got it, but I think the movie works at this length. It feels good and it’s the right length of the movie.
Can you talk about the fact that, we were discussing before at the roundtable, that the movie might make it’s whole budget back just in Japan or in Asia. Can you talk about what you guys are doing in Asia to promote the movie?
Silver: Well, I mean, it’s a world-wide marketing situation. We’re marketing it everywhere. I mean, we’ve got a huge…we had some big commercial work in Seoul and we did…I don’t think they’ve done a big Japan tour yet, but we’re talking about it. We heard that they might want to do a big premiere in Hong Kong next week. But I mean, primarily we’re concentrating now on the U.S. because that’s where it’s going, you know, that’s the first place it’s opening. But there has been…he did some promotional work in Canada and the east coast. So I mean, we’re just trying to roll this out with what makes the most sense. It’s a tough time. There’s a lot of movies that are opening now so we’re trying to get it…but it’s a good date. It’s a good time to open the movie, I think. I think once every person on the planet sees “New Moon” and there’s nobody left who hasn’t see it, then I think they’ll be able to go see “Ninja”.
But isn’t it good for the entire industry when a movie does that well because it gets people into the theatre and then maybe they go see something else, or how does that work?
Silver: That’s a rule of thumb. I mean, I think that would be nice. I mean, that would be good but this weekend this movie “Blind Side” did great, too. So people are going to the movies now, which is fantastic.
Following up on a previous question, so you didn’t look for any Japanese actor to play this character and Rain is first and let’s build Ninja around him.
Silver: Well, when we realized we felt Rain could do this, we decided to design and develop a movie for him. And we always wanted to make a Ninja movie, so it made sense to just make this and we crafted a situation where he didn’t have to be Japanese and show….Krashugi is Japanese so I mean it was just….
As a producer, because Rain has kind of big fan-base in Asia so that’s why he was cast, okay…
Ninja Assassin movie image Rain (1).jpg
Silver: No because he was in…”Speed Racer” didn’t do very well in Asia either so I mean I think he has a fan-base but you have to make the right movie. Nobody goes to see anything really just because of the people that are in it. They have to want to see the movie. So I hope that he has a fan-base will help but I hope that we made a good movie so that the movie will attract an audience.
Shô Kosugi is homage for all the Ninja movies?
Silver: Sure.
And you decided or director recommended it or what was the…?
Silver: We all decided to use him because he really has a resonance for the audience who remember those movies for these kinds of pictures. And then he didn’t really want to do it because he felt he was over it, you know, but he did it and he had a good time and we’re really happy he did. It worked out good.
At the last junket we had you mentioned you were developing a Swamp Thing movie. How are things going on that and when might we see something?
Silver: We’re working on it. It’s happening so we’ll see what happens. I mean, it’s something I’m excited about doing and I want to hopefully pull that off, so we’re working on that now.
Could that be for next Halloween or…?
Silver: I don’t think it’ll be that soon, but we’re working on it.
And another comic book character that I’d love to see get done if you can do it is Lobo.
Silver: Sure.
Where is that?
Silver: I mean we just did a big test and the studio just saw it, so we’re seeing how we’re going to pull that off and we’d like to do that, too. But, you know, it’s up to the studio to make the decision what they want to do. So, I’m waiting to see if they want to make that movie.
What was the test? Was it CGI or prosthetics?
Silver: I don’t want to tell any more about it but we did a test.
Do you think Rain has great potential to appeal to Hollywood?
Silver: I think we’ll see if he attracts an audience now. I mean, this is getting a big promotional push, this movie. They’re really supporting it. It’s a lot of advertising. A lot of money is being spent to get the movie out there. It’s opening in a lot of theatres. Again, it’s a really good time of year to open the movie and if people go and see it and if they like it it’ll be great for us. It’ll be great for Rain and it’ll be great for this type of movie. You know, if people go and see it. I keep saying I hope that the teenage boys are saying to their girlfriends this weekend, “okay I’ll go see Twilight with you or “New Moon” if you come see “Ninja” with me”, so I hope we can get an audience to see it. And if they do come, it’ll be great for him, yeah.
What was your favorite thing about Rain other than action?
Silver: Well, he’s a great guy. Smart guy. Really hard worker. Really committed. Really focused. I mean, he’s a dream…I mean you make a movie like this he’s your partner and he’s a great partner.
I’m curious, there’s so many re-makes and stuff from earlier films and you have some classic films from the 80’s like “Brewster’s Millions”, “Weird Science”, have you been approached about remaking some of those things and what’s your feeling on remakes?
Silver: I don’t know. I mean, to remake a movie that…I don’t know if I want to remake things that I was happy with, you know? If there were movies that didn’t work or weren’t effective or that are out there in the world that I think could be good movies, I mean I would be open. But, I mean, not really. I mean, we talked about maybe remaking “Commando” at one point because that wasn’t….I think it could have been a much better movie and we didn’t really have the money or the time to do that properly, so I wouldn’t mind trying to do that one again. But they’re remaking “Predator” now, which I’m not involved in, but I liked “Predator”.
And you have “Dark Castle”. How many releases are…could you talk about what stuff you have brewing for the company and what releases are coming?
Silver: I mean, this movie “Dark Castle” is a piece of this movie, this “Ninja”. We did it with Warner Brothers and Legendary, so it’s all three of us involved. The next one out for us is a movie called “The Losers” that we just finished which is really strong, really good. Sylvain White did a great job, great cast. It really is fun. It has a really great tone, a great quality and the actors are fantastic and that’s going to come out in April. And then in January we start a movie called “Unknown White Male” which is a thriller with Liam Neeson and Diane Kruger and January Jones, and that starts shooting in mid-January in Berlin.
Is it based on the true story?
Silver: No, it’s just an original screenplay directed by Jaume Collet-Serra who did “The Orphan” for us. And then I have a movie, a ghost story, called “The Apparition” which we’re going to start in February, which is going to be with Ashley Green. She’s going to be in that movie. And I’m just putting it together now and that’s going to be filmed here also and in Berlin. And then we have a movie we did with John Cusack called “The Factory” which is going to come out the following January-a year from this January. And you know there’s other pictures that we’re developing but we have…I hope we can make more Sherlock Holmes films, so we’ll see what happens.
I was going to ask you a follow-up on that. When you were casting for “Sherlock” obviously you’re hoping for a franchise. But when you have somebody like Robert Downey Jr. who obviously can open the film, is there a thing where you sort of agree before you guys commit to everything, you know, I’m signing you up for X-numbers of films in case it does well, but maybe because you have Robert you’re like well, let’s just take the chance on one? Could you talk about the importance of contracting for sequels vs. landing the big star for the first film?
Silver: No, this movie was intended to be a franchise picture. I mean, Robert would love it to be a franchise picture, so would the studio. He wants to do these forever if the audience wants to see them. He loves it. And you know, when you create a deal like this with the studio you do create a situation where there is a provision in the deal built in for sequels. I mean, we had those for “Speed Racer” too but we didn’t have to use that. But it depends on the movie. I think if we….there’s an article in Entertainment Weekly this week about “Sherlock” and Jeff Robinoff, who’s the head of production of the studio, his quote said if the movie’s a hit I want to get the sequel going as fast as possible. So he just came right out there and said that. I would have just waited until the movie opened first, but he wanted people to know that’s what they want to do, so we’ll hope that if…in fact we have a script being written and if the picture does work, you’ll be seeing another one, I hope, pretty soon.
Do you have a running time on it yet?
Silver: Ah, yeah. Yeah, it’s a little over 2 hours.
With “The Apparition”, what did you see in Ashley Green that it’s time for her to take the lead?
Silver: Well she came and met with us and she really wanted to do this kind of movie. I mean she does have some clearly some strong genre chops. This picture is going to be unbelievably successful–”New Moon”–but she wanted to do it and she’s a very beautiful girl and we thought it was a good person for the movie and so we made a deal.
What’s she going to be playing in it?
Silver: It’s a ghost story. That’s all I’ll tell you now.
Is it time to put the rumors to bed on a “Lethal Weapon 5″ or do you think there’s ever a chance of it happening?
Silver: I mean we tried. I mean, Mel just didn’t want to do it. He just didn’t feel it was the right time for him to do it, so we aren’t doing it now.
Do you have a good relationship with him for say another project? Because he seems like he’s acting again, “Edge of Darkness” and a few other things.
Silver: I mean look, we’ll see. I mean, he was open to the idea of it and we went into a discussion and tried to see if it could happen and we did some work. We actually, Shane actually wrote something and he liked it but he just didn’t want to commit to it at that time.
And you’ve opened the door-Shane Black. What’s it going to take? I’ve been waiting and waiting and waiting for you two to do a project.
Silver: He wrote another script for me called “The Nice Guys” which is….
You told me about it awhile ago. Do you think there’s a chance of it moving forward?
Silver: Yeah, there is. There is. We’ll see what happens.
Sergeant Rock with Frances Laurents, is there a good chance you’ll get into the super hero game at some point with one of these?
Silver: I hope so. I hope so. Frances has got a real vision this thing and if we can pull it off it’ll be a great movie.
Shane Black, please?
Silver: I’m trying
source
http://www.collider.com/2009/11/24/2nd-joel-silver-interview-ninja-assassin-plus-info-on-dark-castle-projects-remakes-sherlock-holmes-more/
http://rain-cloud.co.kr/board/view.asp?mstSeq=7&mstpSeq=&bcmSeq=4&seq=17022&page=402&searchType=title&searchStr=A young boy trains under the leader of the secret Ozunu Clan (martial arts veteran Sho Kosugi) but escapes after his fellow student and girlfriend is killed. Now an adult living in Berlin, Raizo (Rain) faces off against his former ninja brothers when he helps pretty Europol agent Mika Coretti (Naomi Harris) track down the Ozuna Clan and stop their business of assassinations-for-hire.
McTeigue and his extensive team of stunt coordinators keep the action crisp and the bloodletting stylish throughout Ninja Assassin, a movie that has already spawned an iPhone/iPod touch game application. Its standout sequences which include a gory battle between young yakuza and ninjas at the start of the film, a frantic fight between speeding cars on a busy Berlin motorway and the climactic battle between Raizo and his teacher in a burning mountaintop retreat, offer slick violence equal to a Takashi Miike film and a level of brutality worthy of the great Kinji Fukasaku (Battle Royale).
Ninja Assassin features the familiar plot of a student rebelling against an evil master, it’s a plot that’s easy-to-follow thanks to popular ninja video game and numerous martial arts movies. It's hard to fault Sand and Straczynski for wanting to upend a proven formula. A series of flashbacks explaining Raizo's past drags down the middle of the film and prevents Ninja Assassin from becoming a modern martial arts classic on the level of the Kill Bill films or Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
Naomie Harris (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and At World's End) deserves credit for bringing a strong female presence to the testosterone-heavy movie. Harris makes her Europol forensics detective strong, brave and willing to face whirling blades and non-stop gunfire. Sho Kosugi squeezes every ounce of melodrama out of the flashback scenes of candlelight instruction and sadistic blood rituals. Granted, the dialogue may be laughable at times but it's still a joy to hear Kosugi deliver the words with his raspy voice.
Rain, who starred in the Wachowski Brothers film Speed Racer, kicks the film to life whenever he appears onscreen. Rain is charismatic and impressively buffed as the film's baby-faced assassin and ruthless as a master killer with a weapon resembling a flying guillotine. While a sequel for Ninja Assassin is unlikely, despite being set up for one, expect more Hollywood work for the talented 27 year old Korean pop star.
At times the film's severed heads and gushing blood bring to mind the faux trailer for the Eli Roth horror Thanksgiving. After all, just how bloody can a Hollywood holiday release be? (Warners moved Ninja Assassin up from a planned 2010 release.) To their credit, Silver and the Wachowski Brothers understand fan boys who will drive earnings above the previous Silver/Wachowski production Speed Racer. The promise of extensive bonus clips means these same fans will also line up for Ninja Assassin on home video making bloody ninjas a good business movie for Warner Bros.
Distributor: Warner Bros
Cast: Rain, Naomie Harris and Sho Kosugi
Director: James McTeigue
Screenwriters: Matthew Sand and J. Michael Stracynski
Producers: Joel Silver, Andy Wachowski, Larry Wachowski and Grant Hill
Rating: R for strong bloody stylized violence throughout, and language.
Running time: 99 min.
Release date: November 25, 2009
sourcehttp://boxoffice.com/reviews/2009/11/ninja-assassin.php
http://rain-cloud.co.kr/board/view.asp?mstSeq=7&mstpSeq=&bcmSeq=4&seq=17021&page=402&searchType=title&searchStr=
ratoka
Joel Silver interview with Collider.com talking about Rain
Question: I want to start off by asking the big question. How is it that since “Roger Rabbit” you haven’t been acting?
Joel Silver: That was it. I did it. I did my acting performance in “Roger Rabbit”. I think I did a voice-over also in “Osmosis Jones” and I directed an episode of my show years ago, “Tales from the Crypt” and that’s my endeavors in the non-producer oriented ranks.
They havn’t come after you for “Entourage”?
Silver: I think I did one. I think I did one thing where I was at the Laker game with “Entourage” once but that was it.
Is it something you’d want to do though? Have they asked you?
Silver: I’m happy with my place in the firmament here. I like to produce movies and that’s where I want to be. I’m not looking to….I’d like to build my company and make a bigger company always, but I think in the behind the scenes arena is where I’d prefer to spend my time.
Well, this is probably the first Ninja movie we’ve seen in at least 20 years, what are the things about Ninja legends that appeal to you and will appeal to audiences?
Silver: Look, we wanted to make a Martial arts movie. That’s what we wanted to do. I mean, when I made my deal…when I put the deal together for “Dark Castle” which is a self-funded entity which distributes through Warner Brothers, I was talking to an executive at Warner’s. He said what you really ought to do is you ought to develop a new Martial arts star. He said we’ve never been able to do that. I mean that’s not what we do. And, you know, they have had a history of having very successful movies with Martial arts stars. I mean back to Bruce Lee and Steven Segal and Jet Li and they’ve made a lot of Martial arts movies with kind of personalities who the audience accepted who could do that kind of activity. And he said if you can find one, it can be great. And when we met Rain and we saw what he could do in “Speed Racer” we thought here’s a guy. So we actually designed “Ninja Assassin” around him to make it for him. So that was the intention-to build a Martial arts star. And I think we did. I think if the audience agrees with us and if they feel that they accept him as this guy, I think he can make a lot of movies.
But Rain is a Korean and Ninja is Japanese, I’m Japanese so when I saw this movie and they cast Rain and he’s Korean. Hollywood has a trend of taking a Japanese character and people cast a Japanese actor and Japanese/American actor, but why do you guys cast a Korean?
Joel Silver and Susan Downey (3).jpgSilver: Well, we made a point of saying it was an orphanage that these people were taken from all over Asia and he wasn’t necessarily Japanese. It just was a…Martial arts tends to be a Chinese…most of the big Martial arts stars that I’m aware of…it’s the Kung Fu is a Chinese esthetic. When we did “The Matrix” I mean we were combining kind of Japanese animation, which was a style with Chinese martial arts, I mean it kind of is as an Asian influence but there are movies, I mean, that are Hollywood movies. I mean, Jet Li is really a Chinese martial artist, but he worked in American movies. But I don’t think that we are confining ourself to just a Japanese style. I mean, this is a movie that has Asian influence, but it’s a movie for the whole world. It’s a movie designed to attract a world audience.
Do you think there is a Chinese maybe actor that could be very handsome and tall you could get a Chinese or is it just because of Rain that you think that he is actually right for the character?
Silver: Well he had a tremendous athletic ability to be able to do these kind of…look Steven Segal is neither, you know? I mean, he was just very good at what he did. But, you know, I think that Rain had great sense of this kind of style of fighting and acrobatics and because of his dance experience he was able to do unbelievable feats and a lot of this was not involving wire-work either. I mean, there is wire-work in the movie, but when we did “The Matrix” I mean, all of them-Keanu and Carrie Ann Moss and Hugo Weaving and Laurence Fishburne, I mean there was a lot of really serious wire-work where they were in harnesses a lot. And we tried to make this movie a different kind of martial arts, much more rooted in being attached to the Earth so much. It’s not so much flying as it is kind of athletic ability. And I think that he has that ability. And it wasn’t as if we were, you know I mean, and this movie most of the stunt people-the 2 guys who did the design work-Chad and Dave-were American guys who had worked with us and with Woo Ping and all the guys on the other movies and they had understood the process of staging and creating these fights. So it was kind of an international movie more or less.
Was there ever a longer cut than 92 minutes?
Ninja Assassin movie poster.jpg
Silver: I think it went through a few versions until we got where we got it, but I think the movie works at this length. It feels good and it’s the right length of the movie.
Can you talk about the fact that, we were discussing before at the roundtable, that the movie might make it’s whole budget back just in Japan or in Asia. Can you talk about what you guys are doing in Asia to promote the movie?
Silver: Well, I mean, it’s a world-wide marketing situation. We’re marketing it everywhere. I mean, we’ve got a huge…we had some big commercial work in Seoul and we did…I don’t think they’ve done a big Japan tour yet, but we’re talking about it. We heard that they might want to do a big premiere in Hong Kong next week. But I mean, primarily we’re concentrating now on the U.S. because that’s where it’s going, you know, that’s the first place it’s opening. But there has been…he did some promotional work in Canada and the east coast. So I mean, we’re just trying to roll this out with what makes the most sense. It’s a tough time. There’s a lot of movies that are opening now so we’re trying to get it…but it’s a good date. It’s a good time to open the movie, I think. I think once every person on the planet sees “New Moon” and there’s nobody left who hasn’t see it, then I think they’ll be able to go see “Ninja”.
But isn’t it good for the entire industry when a movie does that well because it gets people into the theatre and then maybe they go see something else, or how does that work?
Silver: That’s a rule of thumb. I mean, I think that would be nice. I mean, that would be good but this weekend this movie “Blind Side” did great, too. So people are going to the movies now, which is fantastic.
Following up on a previous question, so you didn’t look for any Japanese actor to play this character and Rain is first and let’s build Ninja around him.
Silver: Well, when we realized we felt Rain could do this, we decided to design and develop a movie for him. And we always wanted to make a Ninja movie, so it made sense to just make this and we crafted a situation where he didn’t have to be Japanese and show….Krashugi is Japanese so I mean it was just….
As a producer, because Rain has kind of big fan-base in Asia so that’s why he was cast, okay…
Ninja Assassin movie image Rain (1).jpg
Silver: No because he was in…”Speed Racer” didn’t do very well in Asia either so I mean I think he has a fan-base but you have to make the right movie. Nobody goes to see anything really just because of the people that are in it. They have to want to see the movie. So I hope that he has a fan-base will help but I hope that we made a good movie so that the movie will attract an audience.
Shô Kosugi is homage for all the Ninja movies?
Silver: Sure.
And you decided or director recommended it or what was the…?
Silver: We all decided to use him because he really has a resonance for the audience who remember those movies for these kinds of pictures. And then he didn’t really want to do it because he felt he was over it, you know, but he did it and he had a good time and we’re really happy he did. It worked out good.
At the last junket we had you mentioned you were developing a Swamp Thing movie. How are things going on that and when might we see something?
Silver: We’re working on it. It’s happening so we’ll see what happens. I mean, it’s something I’m excited about doing and I want to hopefully pull that off, so we’re working on that now.
Could that be for next Halloween or…?
Silver: I don’t think it’ll be that soon, but we’re working on it.
And another comic book character that I’d love to see get done if you can do it is Lobo.
Silver: Sure.
Where is that?
Silver: I mean we just did a big test and the studio just saw it, so we’re seeing how we’re going to pull that off and we’d like to do that, too. But, you know, it’s up to the studio to make the decision what they want to do. So, I’m waiting to see if they want to make that movie.
What was the test? Was it CGI or prosthetics?
Silver: I don’t want to tell any more about it but we did a test.
Do you think Rain has great potential to appeal to Hollywood?
Silver: I think we’ll see if he attracts an audience now. I mean, this is getting a big promotional push, this movie. They’re really supporting it. It’s a lot of advertising. A lot of money is being spent to get the movie out there. It’s opening in a lot of theatres. Again, it’s a really good time of year to open the movie and if people go and see it and if they like it it’ll be great for us. It’ll be great for Rain and it’ll be great for this type of movie. You know, if people go and see it. I keep saying I hope that the teenage boys are saying to their girlfriends this weekend, “okay I’ll go see Twilight with you or “New Moon” if you come see “Ninja” with me”, so I hope we can get an audience to see it. And if they do come, it’ll be great for him, yeah.
What was your favorite thing about Rain other than action?
Silver: Well, he’s a great guy. Smart guy. Really hard worker. Really committed. Really focused. I mean, he’s a dream…I mean you make a movie like this he’s your partner and he’s a great partner.
I’m curious, there’s so many re-makes and stuff from earlier films and you have some classic films from the 80’s like “Brewster’s Millions”, “Weird Science”, have you been approached about remaking some of those things and what’s your feeling on remakes?
Silver: I don’t know. I mean, to remake a movie that…I don’t know if I want to remake things that I was happy with, you know? If there were movies that didn’t work or weren’t effective or that are out there in the world that I think could be good movies, I mean I would be open. But, I mean, not really. I mean, we talked about maybe remaking “Commando” at one point because that wasn’t….I think it could have been a much better movie and we didn’t really have the money or the time to do that properly, so I wouldn’t mind trying to do that one again. But they’re remaking “Predator” now, which I’m not involved in, but I liked “Predator”.
And you have “Dark Castle”. How many releases are…could you talk about what stuff you have brewing for the company and what releases are coming?
Silver: I mean, this movie “Dark Castle” is a piece of this movie, this “Ninja”. We did it with Warner Brothers and Legendary, so it’s all three of us involved. The next one out for us is a movie called “The Losers” that we just finished which is really strong, really good. Sylvain White did a great job, great cast. It really is fun. It has a really great tone, a great quality and the actors are fantastic and that’s going to come out in April. And then in January we start a movie called “Unknown White Male” which is a thriller with Liam Neeson and Diane Kruger and January Jones, and that starts shooting in mid-January in Berlin.
Is it based on the true story?
Silver: No, it’s just an original screenplay directed by Jaume Collet-Serra who did “The Orphan” for us. And then I have a movie, a ghost story, called “The Apparition” which we’re going to start in February, which is going to be with Ashley Green. She’s going to be in that movie. And I’m just putting it together now and that’s going to be filmed here also and in Berlin. And then we have a movie we did with John Cusack called “The Factory” which is going to come out the following January-a year from this January. And you know there’s other pictures that we’re developing but we have…I hope we can make more Sherlock Holmes films, so we’ll see what happens.
I was going to ask you a follow-up on that. When you were casting for “Sherlock” obviously you’re hoping for a franchise. But when you have somebody like Robert Downey Jr. who obviously can open the film, is there a thing where you sort of agree before you guys commit to everything, you know, I’m signing you up for X-numbers of films in case it does well, but maybe because you have Robert you’re like well, let’s just take the chance on one? Could you talk about the importance of contracting for sequels vs. landing the big star for the first film?
Silver: No, this movie was intended to be a franchise picture. I mean, Robert would love it to be a franchise picture, so would the studio. He wants to do these forever if the audience wants to see them. He loves it. And you know, when you create a deal like this with the studio you do create a situation where there is a provision in the deal built in for sequels. I mean, we had those for “Speed Racer” too but we didn’t have to use that. But it depends on the movie. I think if we….there’s an article in Entertainment Weekly this week about “Sherlock” and Jeff Robinoff, who’s the head of production of the studio, his quote said if the movie’s a hit I want to get the sequel going as fast as possible. So he just came right out there and said that. I would have just waited until the movie opened first, but he wanted people to know that’s what they want to do, so we’ll hope that if…in fact we have a script being written and if the picture does work, you’ll be seeing another one, I hope, pretty soon.
Do you have a running time on it yet?
Silver: Ah, yeah. Yeah, it’s a little over 2 hours.
With “The Apparition”, what did you see in Ashley Green that it’s time for her to take the lead?
Silver: Well she came and met with us and she really wanted to do this kind of movie. I mean she does have some clearly some strong genre chops. This picture is going to be unbelievably successful–”New Moon”–but she wanted to do it and she’s a very beautiful girl and we thought it was a good person for the movie and so we made a deal.
What’s she going to be playing in it?
Silver: It’s a ghost story. That’s all I’ll tell you now.
Is it time to put the rumors to bed on a “Lethal Weapon 5″ or do you think there’s ever a chance of it happening?
Silver: I mean we tried. I mean, Mel just didn’t want to do it. He just didn’t feel it was the right time for him to do it, so we aren’t doing it now.
Do you have a good relationship with him for say another project? Because he seems like he’s acting again, “Edge of Darkness” and a few other things.
Silver: I mean look, we’ll see. I mean, he was open to the idea of it and we went into a discussion and tried to see if it could happen and we did some work. We actually, Shane actually wrote something and he liked it but he just didn’t want to commit to it at that time.
And you’ve opened the door-Shane Black. What’s it going to take? I’ve been waiting and waiting and waiting for you two to do a project.
Silver: He wrote another script for me called “The Nice Guys” which is….
You told me about it awhile ago. Do you think there’s a chance of it moving forward?
Silver: Yeah, there is. There is. We’ll see what happens.
Sergeant Rock with Frances Laurents, is there a good chance you’ll get into the super hero game at some point with one of these?
Silver: I hope so. I hope so. Frances has got a real vision this thing and if we can pull it off it’ll be a great movie.
Shane Black, please?
Silver: I’m trying
source
http://www.collider.com/2009/11/24/2nd-joel-silver-interview-ninja-assassin-plus-info-on-dark-castle-projects-remakes-sherlock-holmes-more/
ratoka
inja Assassin Is a Blood-Splattered Geek Show
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/pos ... splatter-geek-show/
They are known as “gorehounds” - genre film fans who enjoy the life-fluid lasciviousness of movies drenched in blood and guts. For this discerning demographic, no narrative is complete without massive amounts of arterial spray, vivisection, and body cavity defilement. It’s the raison d’etra of special effects both practical and digital. So imagine their surprise to see more sustained splatter in a Tinseltown tempered martial arts movie than in every Friday the 13th film ever made…and then some. Indeed, Ninja Assassin is nothing more than 99 minutes of hacked limbs, sliced organs, and vein gravy so ripe and red that it seems to overwhelm everything else.
When he was a young boy, Raizo (South Korean pop star Rain) was taken in - or perhaps sold - to the deadly Ozunu Ninja Clan. For 100 pounds of gold, this ancient family offers its highly polished skills as hired killers. They’ve been doing so for centuries. After a brutal childhood, a tragedy forces Raizo against the clan and the man (Sho Kosugi) who trained and raised him. Now, Europol, led by forensics researcher Mika Corretti (Naomie Harris) are on the verge of uncovering this corrupt criminal organization. Of course, neither Ozunu nor Raizo can let this happen. Thus begins an elaborate cat and mouse which starts in the streets of Berlin and winds its way around the world to the mountain top training facility of the murderous mob itself. And along the way, many individuals both innocent and guilty will be systematically slaughtered…
It is simply astonishing how much blood there is in Ninja Assassin. Imagine the most basic effort from The Shaw Brothers, toss in a contemporary police angle, and then paint the whole damn thing with more offal than a slaughterhouse in overdrive and you’ve got some idea of James McTeigue’s approach here. Clearly, this movie was meant to jumpstart the stealthy Japanese icons lagging cinematic fortunes. It’s been decades since the ninja ruled the wire-fu roost. And there’s even a videogame like perspective applied to most of the action. Yet because of the director’s desire to spill galloons of grue after each and every sword/throwing star slice, what starts out serious ends up looking like a Ginzu version of 300. In fact, anyone who complained about Zack Snyder’s reliance on the red stuff in his story of brave Greek soldiers will be dumbfounded by how much F/X fluid is flung at the audience.
In fact, there’s so much, it clouds some otherwise effective elements. While he won’t be winning any awards for his depth, international sensation Rain is very good as Raizo. He brings the necessary steely resolve to the well-practiced ninja character, and thanks to some wonderful work by another one named wonder, Joon (as his younger incarnation), there’s enough backstory and dimension to counterbalance the lack of upfront emotion. Indeed, Rain appears to have been hired because of his well-toned physique and ability to mimic real martial artistry with flying kick abandon. Of course, McTeigue shoots his action in such a flamboyant, Hellsapoppin’ style that we’d never know if the performer has all the right moves or is just a pretty torso trapped in a greenscreen groove.
As the bastard who brings orphans to his mountain retreat, eager to put them through a deadly “survival of the fittest” forced education, Sho Kosugi is all gruff and gravel bluster. While he gets to show off his celebrated fithting skills at the end (he’s made a career out of reinventing ninjutsu), the rest of the time he’s like Lawrence Tierney channeling the Master character from Kung Fu. He makes a hissable villain, but we don’t get much more than that. Sadly, it’s he same with Raizo’s Western allies. Naomie Harris is the standard sidekick in distress, a clueless catalyst for more and more of Rain’s ramped-up derring-do. Similarly, Coupling‘s Ben Miles is tossed in as a ridiculous red herring - the kind of crossed wires bureaucrat who may be working against our hero…or who might be secretly trying to support him.
All of which leads us back to the blood. It’s stunning that the MPAA awarded this movie a mere “R” rating. They will take Kevin Smith silly scatology all the way to an NC-17, or treat any issue of sex or the physical expression of love and turn it into proto-porn, but hack a person in half and watch the entrails spill out and you earn an easy teen (and financially) friendly label. Granted, had McTeigue simply toned down the spray, giving us hints instead of histrionics, the fighting would be PG-13 territory all the way. But Ninja Assassin is clearly going for a more “sophisticated” level of viewer, one who doesn’t balk when endless extras are minced and mangled like so many PS3 pawns. Toss in a torrent or two of body broth and you’re ready to rock.
Of course, few will find anything outside the violence remotely interesting. At its core, Ninja Assassin is a revenge flick, albeit one stunted by an off balance tendency toward telegraphing its motives. When we meet the rebellious young girl who catches Raizo’s eye, we just know she’s doomed. Better still, when our hero faces off against Ozunu underling Takeshi, we just know their vendetta will rage on well into Act Three. As it mindlessly moves from plotpoint A to B, Ninja Assassin is entertaining. It doesn’t demand much of the audience except for a suspension of disbelief and a cast-iron constitution. There will be some saddened by the notion that these once great mythic warriors who saved small villages and avenged the disenfranchised have been transformed into faceless facets in a motion picture geek show. While there is more to Ninja Assassin than endless gory excess, what’s remains is like an arterial spray afterthought.
—Bill Gibron
They are known as “gorehounds” - genre film fans who enjoy the life-fluid lasciviousness of movies drenched in blood and guts. For this discerning demographic, no narrative is complete without massive amounts of arterial spray, vivisection, and body cavity defilement. It’s the raison d’etra of special effects both practical and digital. So imagine their surprise to see more sustained splatter in a Tinseltown tempered martial arts movie than in every Friday the 13th film ever made…and then some. Indeed, Ninja Assassin is nothing more than 99 minutes of hacked limbs, sliced organs, and vein gravy so ripe and red that it seems to overwhelm everything else.
When he was a young boy, Raizo (South Korean pop star Rain) was taken in - or perhaps sold - to the deadly Ozunu Ninja Clan. For 100 pounds of gold, this ancient family offers its highly polished skills as hired killers. They’ve been doing so for centuries. After a brutal childhood, a tragedy forces Raizo against the clan and the man (Sho Kosugi) who trained and raised him. Now, Europol, led by forensics researcher Mika Corretti (Naomie Harris) are on the verge of uncovering this corrupt criminal organization. Of course, neither Ozunu nor Raizo can let this happen. Thus begins an elaborate cat and mouse which starts in the streets of Berlin and winds its way around the world to the mountain top training facility of the murderous mob itself. And along the way, many individuals both innocent and guilty will be systematically slaughtered…
It is simply astonishing how much blood there is in Ninja Assassin. Imagine the most basic effort from The Shaw Brothers, toss in a contemporary police angle, and then paint the whole damn thing with more offal than a slaughterhouse in overdrive and you’ve got some idea of James McTeigue’s approach here. Clearly, this movie was meant to jumpstart the stealthy Japanese icons lagging cinematic fortunes. It’s been decades since the ninja ruled the wire-fu roost. And there’s even a videogame like perspective applied to most of the action. Yet because of the director’s desire to spill galloons of grue after each and every sword/throwing star slice, what starts out serious ends up looking like a Ginzu version of 300. In fact, anyone who complained about Zack Snyder’s reliance on the red stuff in his story of brave Greek soldiers will be dumbfounded by how much F/X fluid is flung at the audience.
In fact, there’s so much, it clouds some otherwise effective elements. While he won’t be winning any awards for his depth, international sensation Rain is very good as Raizo. He brings the necessary steely resolve to the well-practiced ninja character, and thanks to some wonderful work by another one named wonder, Joon (as his younger incarnation), there’s enough backstory and dimension to counterbalance the lack of upfront emotion. Indeed, Rain appears to have been hired because of his well-toned physique and ability to mimic real martial artistry with flying kick abandon. Of course, McTeigue shoots his action in such a flamboyant, Hellsapoppin’ style that we’d never know if the performer has all the right moves or is just a pretty torso trapped in a greenscreen groove.
As the bastard who brings orphans to his mountain retreat, eager to put them through a deadly “survival of the fittest” forced education, Sho Kosugi is all gruff and gravel bluster. While he gets to show off his celebrated fithting skills at the end (he’s made a career out of reinventing ninjutsu), the rest of the time he’s like Lawrence Tierney channeling the Master character from Kung Fu. He makes a hissable villain, but we don’t get much more than that. Sadly, it’s he same with Raizo’s Western allies. Naomie Harris is the standard sidekick in distress, a clueless catalyst for more and more of Rain’s ramped-up derring-do. Similarly, Coupling‘s Ben Miles is tossed in as a ridiculous red herring - the kind of crossed wires bureaucrat who may be working against our hero…or who might be secretly trying to support him.
All of which leads us back to the blood. It’s stunning that the MPAA awarded this movie a mere “R” rating. They will take Kevin Smith silly scatology all the way to an NC-17, or treat any issue of sex or the physical expression of love and turn it into proto-porn, but hack a person in half and watch the entrails spill out and you earn an easy teen (and financially) friendly label. Granted, had McTeigue simply toned down the spray, giving us hints instead of histrionics, the fighting would be PG-13 territory all the way. But Ninja Assassin is clearly going for a more “sophisticated” level of viewer, one who doesn’t balk when endless extras are minced and mangled like so many PS3 pawns. Toss in a torrent or two of body broth and you’re ready to rock.
Of course, few will find anything outside the violence remotely interesting. At its core, Ninja Assassin is a revenge flick, albeit one stunted by an off balance tendency toward telegraphing its motives. When we meet the rebellious young girl who catches Raizo’s eye, we just know she’s doomed. Better still, when our hero faces off against Ozunu underling Takeshi, we just know their vendetta will rage on well into Act Three. As it mindlessly moves from plotpoint A to B, Ninja Assassin is entertaining. It doesn’t demand much of the audience except for a suspension of disbelief and a cast-iron constitution. There will be some saddened by the notion that these once great mythic warriors who saved small villages and avenged the disenfranchised have been transformed into faceless facets in a motion picture geek show. While there is more to Ninja Assassin than endless gory excess, what’s remains is like an arterial spray afterthought.
—Bill Gibron
http://rain-cloud.co.kr/board/view.asp?mstSeq=7&mstpSeq=&bcmSeq=4&seq=17023&page=402&searchType=title&searchStr=
ratoka
Ninja Assassin Review - IGN
source:http://movies.ign.com/articles/104/1049871p1.html
Ninja Assassin Review
We strike from the shadows with our ninja-like review skills.
November 25, 2009 - If nothing else, Ninja Assassin is true to its title. There are ninjas, and yes, they assassinate the hell out of people. And if that's all that you're looking for in this stylized action flick, then certainly the film will deliver on the promise of its title. But if you're looking for anything resembling an actual movie -- with a story, a plot, performances, nuance, etc. -- you'll likely find yourself at least mildly disappointed once the blood begins to dry.
The film opens with a bang, kicking off in a Yakuza nightclub where an envelope containing only black sand is delivered to the gangster in charge. After a long monologue by an old tattoo artist about the violence that erupted the last time he saw such an envelope, the ninja strikes, emerging from the shadows to slice and dice his way through an army of gun-shooting henchmen. There is, of course, much beheading and vivisecting and fake CGI blood, and at least in this opening sequence -- as over-acted as it all may be -- there's a fair amount of martial arts awesomeness, as well. It's only in the next sequence, when this over-long action set piece attempts to be an actual movie, that things go so horribly awry.
Naomie Harris plays a Europol researcher named Mika who somehow manages to convince her boss over five minutes of exposition about events that we never actually get to witness that a clan of ninjas is secretly hiring themselves out as assassins to high-bidding clients. Suddenly, government agents from the FBI, CIA, MI6, etc. make their nefarious presence known to warn off Mika from the case. Why and how these agencies are connected to the ninja clan, we can't be sure, but it's suggested that the ninjas have relationships very high up the chain of command. Meanwhile, we're introduced to Raizo (played by musician and martial arts expert Rain) who flashes back on his training at the ninja academy, coming to understand that the abuse he suffered there, and the murder of a student who'd been his lover, are indications of a much deeper corruption. The student must fight back against his clan and stop their machinations, and to do so, he must save Mika, now the ninjas' primary target.
This is as deep as the story ever gets, simply setting up a few chases and action set pieces to allow for maximum ninja action. But what's most upsetting is that the things we're told but never see actually speak to a potentially much smarter movie. All the international intrigue, the assassination of high-ranking government targets -- all of this suggests a kind of Bourne-style mash-up of international espionage and ninja ass-kicking that would no doubt have offered a much more engaging experience. Instead, we're left with a rogue ninja trying to protect an attractive stranger in the hopes that she'll draw out their leader and he can earn his revenge. Unfortunately, that, and only that, simply isn't enough.
Thankfully, however, the fight choreography is fast, frenetic and, in a few choice moments, rather graceful in its execution. Knives, swords, fists and bladed chains tear through limbs and heads, leaving dozens of bodies in their wake. And for all the relentless blood-letting, as exciting as it is, the darkness in which the ninjas fight too often obscures the eloquence of the dance. Obviously, ninjas attack from the shadows, but if all the combat takes place there, the opportunity to really capture the quality of the movement threatens to be lost entirely. What we do admire about the film is that Raizo takes some serious damage. He's outnumbered and out-skilled, resulting in a rather brutal collection of gashes and scars across his body. We're never asked to buy that he's so talented that he can take on an entire clan single-handed, all of which lends some level of believable danger to the battle scenes.
James McTeigue, who's last film, V for Vendetta, offered a wonderfully intelligent, well-performed and action-packed narrative, focuses purely on the action this time around. Intelligence and good acting is, quite frankly, nowhere to be seen in Ninja Assassin. But McTeigue's ability to frame a shot and make the visuals truly stand out is on clear display. If only he'd been as demanding with the overall quality instead of placing all his cards on the general bad-assery of the ninja, the film might have been a first-rate, well-rounded action flick. Sadly, however, it's simply something to check out should it come across cable TV, or a DVD worth purchasing to show off your HDTV and surround-sound system. But it's not quite worth a full-price ticket to the theater on a Saturday night, at least not for those in search of a real movie. Those willing to accept hacked limbs and well-staged ass-kicking without any real dramatic hook, however, will no doubt have a blast.
Ninja Assassin Review
We strike from the shadows with our ninja-like review skills.
November 25, 2009 - If nothing else, Ninja Assassin is true to its title. There are ninjas, and yes, they assassinate the hell out of people. And if that's all that you're looking for in this stylized action flick, then certainly the film will deliver on the promise of its title. But if you're looking for anything resembling an actual movie -- with a story, a plot, performances, nuance, etc. -- you'll likely find yourself at least mildly disappointed once the blood begins to dry.
The film opens with a bang, kicking off in a Yakuza nightclub where an envelope containing only black sand is delivered to the gangster in charge. After a long monologue by an old tattoo artist about the violence that erupted the last time he saw such an envelope, the ninja strikes, emerging from the shadows to slice and dice his way through an army of gun-shooting henchmen. There is, of course, much beheading and vivisecting and fake CGI blood, and at least in this opening sequence -- as over-acted as it all may be -- there's a fair amount of martial arts awesomeness, as well. It's only in the next sequence, when this over-long action set piece attempts to be an actual movie, that things go so horribly awry.
Naomie Harris plays a Europol researcher named Mika who somehow manages to convince her boss over five minutes of exposition about events that we never actually get to witness that a clan of ninjas is secretly hiring themselves out as assassins to high-bidding clients. Suddenly, government agents from the FBI, CIA, MI6, etc. make their nefarious presence known to warn off Mika from the case. Why and how these agencies are connected to the ninja clan, we can't be sure, but it's suggested that the ninjas have relationships very high up the chain of command. Meanwhile, we're introduced to Raizo (played by musician and martial arts expert Rain) who flashes back on his training at the ninja academy, coming to understand that the abuse he suffered there, and the murder of a student who'd been his lover, are indications of a much deeper corruption. The student must fight back against his clan and stop their machinations, and to do so, he must save Mika, now the ninjas' primary target.
This is as deep as the story ever gets, simply setting up a few chases and action set pieces to allow for maximum ninja action. But what's most upsetting is that the things we're told but never see actually speak to a potentially much smarter movie. All the international intrigue, the assassination of high-ranking government targets -- all of this suggests a kind of Bourne-style mash-up of international espionage and ninja ass-kicking that would no doubt have offered a much more engaging experience. Instead, we're left with a rogue ninja trying to protect an attractive stranger in the hopes that she'll draw out their leader and he can earn his revenge. Unfortunately, that, and only that, simply isn't enough.
Thankfully, however, the fight choreography is fast, frenetic and, in a few choice moments, rather graceful in its execution. Knives, swords, fists and bladed chains tear through limbs and heads, leaving dozens of bodies in their wake. And for all the relentless blood-letting, as exciting as it is, the darkness in which the ninjas fight too often obscures the eloquence of the dance. Obviously, ninjas attack from the shadows, but if all the combat takes place there, the opportunity to really capture the quality of the movement threatens to be lost entirely. What we do admire about the film is that Raizo takes some serious damage. He's outnumbered and out-skilled, resulting in a rather brutal collection of gashes and scars across his body. We're never asked to buy that he's so talented that he can take on an entire clan single-handed, all of which lends some level of believable danger to the battle scenes.
James McTeigue, who's last film, V for Vendetta, offered a wonderfully intelligent, well-performed and action-packed narrative, focuses purely on the action this time around. Intelligence and good acting is, quite frankly, nowhere to be seen in Ninja Assassin. But McTeigue's ability to frame a shot and make the visuals truly stand out is on clear display. If only he'd been as demanding with the overall quality instead of placing all his cards on the general bad-assery of the ninja, the film might have been a first-rate, well-rounded action flick. Sadly, however, it's simply something to check out should it come across cable TV, or a DVD worth purchasing to show off your HDTV and surround-sound system. But it's not quite worth a full-price ticket to the theater on a Saturday night, at least not for those in search of a real movie. Those willing to accept hacked limbs and well-staged ass-kicking without any real dramatic hook, however, will no doubt have a blast.
http://rain-cloud.co.kr/board/view.asp?mstSeq=7&mstpSeq=&bcmSeq=4&seq=17024&page=402&searchType=title&searchStr=
ratoka
[11-26] Exclusive Interview: Ninja Assassin Director James McTeigue
watch the vid at http://www.cinemablend.com/new/E ... McTeigue-15864.html
"You're making a ninja movie... you can't say this is Citizen Kane," James McTeigue told me when I asked him about the light tone he maintained during Ninja Assassin, the second film he's directed with The Matrix visionaries Andy and Larry Wachowski on board as producers. Though McTeigue recognizes that V for Vendetta was advertised as a Wachowski movie first and McTeigue movie second, he sees Ninja Assassin as being very much his own thing, influenced by the Wachowskis of course, but also every other filmmaker who has inspired him in his career.
I talked to McTeigue about his working relationship with the Wachowskis, his decision to cast Korean pop star Rain in the lead role as reformed assassin Raizo, the completely imaginary weapon that Rain fights with, and of course, keeping the tone light even when the screen is splattered with blood. Watch our 15-minute interview below. Ninja Assassin opens wide today, and trust me, is by far the best movie opening wide this weekend.
"You're making a ninja movie... you can't say this is Citizen Kane," James McTeigue told me when I asked him about the light tone he maintained during Ninja Assassin, the second film he's directed with The Matrix visionaries Andy and Larry Wachowski on board as producers. Though McTeigue recognizes that V for Vendetta was advertised as a Wachowski movie first and McTeigue movie second, he sees Ninja Assassin as being very much his own thing, influenced by the Wachowskis of course, but also every other filmmaker who has inspired him in his career.
I talked to McTeigue about his working relationship with the Wachowskis, his decision to cast Korean pop star Rain in the lead role as reformed assassin Raizo, the completely imaginary weapon that Rain fights with, and of course, keeping the tone light even when the screen is splattered with blood. Watch our 15-minute interview below. Ninja Assassin opens wide today, and trust me, is by far the best movie opening wide this weekend.
http://rain-cloud.co.kr/board/view.asp?mstSeq=7&mstpSeq=&bcmSeq=4&seq=17025&page=402&searchType=title&searchStr=
ratoka
Review : Ninja Assassin - WeAreMovieGeeks
source: http://wearemoviegeeks.com/2009/11/review-ninja-assassin/
James McTeigue first brought us a film that is easily in my top 50 films all time, V FOR VENDETTA. Now he is back but this time with a ninja who is aiming to kill everyone who gets in his way of seeking revenge against the 9 ancient ninja clans.
Let me first tell you that this movie isn’t perfect, but it doesn’t have to be…since few films are perfect these days. What James McTeigue has created a very fun, entertaining and beautifully violent film that has great rewatchability and will leave you begging for more.
There are basically 3 stories in this film, a badass story of how Raizo(Rain) becomes a ninja, how he is now trying to defeat his old clan, and of course a love story. The film could have easily done without the love story, but then it probably wouldn’t have been released under the WB banner and instead suffered some sort of limited crappy release so we will forgive it for that.
Lets start from the beginning, the opening scene features Hollywood(Sung Kang) getting tattooed by an old monk who is doing it the ancient Japanese way, by hammer. Surrounded by his gang of Asian thugs, a letter is delivered which features nothing but black sand. The monk goes on to tell them what happened the last time he saw a letter filled with black sand and from this point forward the ass kicking begins. All of the gang members start being brutally murdered by swords, throwing stars and numerous other blades that splatter the CGI blood all over the screen. Everyone in this scene dies and we get a glimpse of whats to come.
From here we get the story of Raizo from first being introduced to his “brothers and sisters” in the Ozunu Clan, his training to become a ninja and eventually going out to do assassinations. During this part of the story we get misc bits of the love story background tossed in and we see Raizo save the woman in distress, which in this movie is a Euro-pol agent Mika Coretti (Naomie Harris). She is targeted for assassination after uncovering a link between the clans and the government who had been paying the clans to perform killings for hundreds of years. Raizo comes in to help save Mika from being murdered and a bond forms. Its a typical love story, but with a badass ninja twist.
I will say that I was very surprised by Rain’s martial arts skills. Watching this film you would never know this guy doubles as a pop star when he isnt kicking ass.
There is some very badass action, some incredible fight scenes and more blood than you could possibly know what to do with. This is easily one of the greatest ninja movies ever created. I know, i know, a lot of people have a big problem with the CGI blood but seriously…get the hell over it! McTeigue intended this film to be more animated and the CGI blood does a great job of helping achieve that. Most of the things they do in the movie requires you to step away from reality, sort of like other films the Wachowski brothers have worked on.
If you haven’t already then go check out our interview with James McTeigue then jump over and watch it to get a better feel for what he intended for the film.
If you go into this movie expecting a fun and entertaining experience you will leave a very happy camper. If you go in expecting to have a mind blowing, life changing experience you might not be so happy.
I had more fun at this movie than I've had during a movie in a very long time. Rating: 4 out of 5
James McTeigue first brought us a film that is easily in my top 50 films all time, V FOR VENDETTA. Now he is back but this time with a ninja who is aiming to kill everyone who gets in his way of seeking revenge against the 9 ancient ninja clans.
Let me first tell you that this movie isn’t perfect, but it doesn’t have to be…since few films are perfect these days. What James McTeigue has created a very fun, entertaining and beautifully violent film that has great rewatchability and will leave you begging for more.
There are basically 3 stories in this film, a badass story of how Raizo(Rain) becomes a ninja, how he is now trying to defeat his old clan, and of course a love story. The film could have easily done without the love story, but then it probably wouldn’t have been released under the WB banner and instead suffered some sort of limited crappy release so we will forgive it for that.
Lets start from the beginning, the opening scene features Hollywood(Sung Kang) getting tattooed by an old monk who is doing it the ancient Japanese way, by hammer. Surrounded by his gang of Asian thugs, a letter is delivered which features nothing but black sand. The monk goes on to tell them what happened the last time he saw a letter filled with black sand and from this point forward the ass kicking begins. All of the gang members start being brutally murdered by swords, throwing stars and numerous other blades that splatter the CGI blood all over the screen. Everyone in this scene dies and we get a glimpse of whats to come.
From here we get the story of Raizo from first being introduced to his “brothers and sisters” in the Ozunu Clan, his training to become a ninja and eventually going out to do assassinations. During this part of the story we get misc bits of the love story background tossed in and we see Raizo save the woman in distress, which in this movie is a Euro-pol agent Mika Coretti (Naomie Harris). She is targeted for assassination after uncovering a link between the clans and the government who had been paying the clans to perform killings for hundreds of years. Raizo comes in to help save Mika from being murdered and a bond forms. Its a typical love story, but with a badass ninja twist.
I will say that I was very surprised by Rain’s martial arts skills. Watching this film you would never know this guy doubles as a pop star when he isnt kicking ass.
There is some very badass action, some incredible fight scenes and more blood than you could possibly know what to do with. This is easily one of the greatest ninja movies ever created. I know, i know, a lot of people have a big problem with the CGI blood but seriously…get the hell over it! McTeigue intended this film to be more animated and the CGI blood does a great job of helping achieve that. Most of the things they do in the movie requires you to step away from reality, sort of like other films the Wachowski brothers have worked on.
If you haven’t already then go check out our interview with James McTeigue then jump over and watch it to get a better feel for what he intended for the film.
If you go into this movie expecting a fun and entertaining experience you will leave a very happy camper. If you go in expecting to have a mind blowing, life changing experience you might not be so happy.
I had more fun at this movie than I've had during a movie in a very long time. Rating: 4 out of 5
http://rain-cloud.co.kr/board/view.asp?mstSeq=7&mstpSeq=&bcmSeq=4&seq=17026&page=402&searchType=title&searchStr=
ratoka
Everything about Ninja Assassin production - Warner Bros
source:http://www.shokosugitheninja.com/NinjaAssassinWBNotes.htm
NINJA ASSASSIN
(Notes supplied by Warner Bros)
Raizo (Rain) is 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 Berlin, Raizo and Mika must trust one another if they hope to survive...and finally bring down the elusive Ozunu Clan.
"Ninja Assassin" is directed by James McTeigue from a screenplay by Matthew Sand and J. Michael Straczynski. The film stars Korean pop star Rain, Naomie Harris, Ben Miles, Rick Yune and legendary martial arts performer Sho Kosugi. Joel Silver, Andy Wachowski, Larry Wachowski and Grant Hill are the film's producers, with Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni and Steve Richards serving as executive producers.
The behind-the-scenes creative team includes director of photography Karl Walter Lindenlaub, production designer Graham "Grace" Walker, editor Gian Ganziano, editor Joseph Jett Sally, costume designer Carlo Poggioli and composer Ilan Eshkeri.
Warner Bros. Pictures presents, in association with Legendary Pictures and Dark Castle Entertainment, a Silver Pictures Production in association with Anarchos Productions, "Ninja Assassin."
Opening nationwide on November 25, 2009, the film will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.
The film has been rated R by the MPAA for strong bloody stylized violence throughout, and language. www.Ninja-Assassin-Movie.com
For downloadable general information and photos please visit: http://press.warnerbros.com
ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
Betrayal begets blood.
This is the law of the Nine Clans.
This is the way of the ninja.
They are the stuff of legend, but for their victims they are all too real. Their swords and shuriken fly fast and, in the blink of an eye, cut to the bone, creating a bloody spray in the wake of the blade. The masters of stealth and dealers of death, these specters strike without warning and strike fear in the hearts of their enemies. No one is safe. Ninjas are the special forces of the martial arts world, and director James McTeigue and producers Joel Silver, Andy and Larry Wachowski and Grant Hill wanted to bring them to the screen as never before.
States producer Silver, "We each felt that the pure martial arts film is a kind of a subgenre that hasn't really had its due in the U.S. We were always talking about doing something like taking the legend of the ninja, which dates back to the 14th century, and dropping this silent killer into a truly modern world."
The filmmakers wanted to utilize the classic ninja movie structure in which an enigmatic master schools select children to become unbelievable fighters or assassins, who people in the "real world" of the film believe to be a myth. That is, of course, until their two worlds intersect and the disbelievers witness these incredible martial artists in action.
"Ninjas were the shadowy characters who always came out of the darkness," says director McTeigue, who also recalls the influences of his upbringing in Australia. "We got anime from Japan and a lot of the TV serials as well, like 'The Samurai' and 'The Phantom Agents'-shows that had elements of the folkloric ninja in them, where the characters were raised in an orphanage or the like. For this film, we talked about those classic elements, but also adding an edgy film noir aspect to it."
"It's no secret that each of us, Larry and Andy in particular, has a strong affinity for Japanese storytelling and culture," offers producer Hill, "but how does the world of the ninja wrap itself around the 21st century?"
That became the job of screenwriters Matthew Sand and J. Michael Straczynski, who were brought on board to pen the script.
"I trained in karate all through college, and the martial arts have been a big part of my life for a long time," says Sand. "So to get to write the kind of ninja movie I've always wanted to see was a dream come true."
"I've always loved the genre, but it seemed like no one had made a serious ninja movie in a long time, at least not in the West," notes Straczynski. "Ninjas have been used so often for comic relief that it felt as if no one was taking them seriously any longer. The chance to make a movie that presented ninjas as being scary as hell was very appealing," he smiles, "and working with the Wachowskis is always rewarding and intellectually daunting because they both have these 12-story brains and you really have to be on your toes to keep up with them."
The screenplay began to take shape. Says Sand, "It's an origin story. The orphanage-the idea of these ninjas being a family in a twisted, dark way-and one man, Raizo, coming to terms with a substitute father who was the most awful father imaginable. Where Raizo came from as a character is exactly what the ninja clans are all about. They made him. Motivated by a lost love, his reacting against them rather than becoming what they had in mind, along with the story of the agent investigating the clans, made it a different type of a ninja movie than we'd ever seen."
In order to be certain they could make the kind of film they all wanted to see, they had to find the perfect Raizo-someone who was not only able to take on the physical demands of the character's warrior side, but who could also be a believable leading man.
"The day that Rain did his first scene in 'Speed Racer,'" recalls Silver, "the Wachowski brothers called me and said, 'This guy is unbelievable. He's a natural. He is our dream come true.' And we began to plan 'Ninja Assassin' immediately."
McTeigue says, "Even though it was a relatively small role, Rain's physical ability was so good that we thought if we could do an all-out ninja movie, he would be the one to do it with."
"When we were working on that film, Larry and Andy approached me and asked if I would be interested in being a ninja," remembers Rain. "How could I say no to that? I told them, 'Tell me when and where and I'll be there.'"
Although Rain plays Raizo, the central role, the filmmakers knew that the real star of "Ninja Assassin" would be the stunning martial arts sequences, and to accomplish them they'd need the best. They called in legendary stunt choreographers Chad Stahelski and Dave Leitch-who've worked with the Wachowskis, Silver and Hill since "The Matrix" days and who got their start as stunt coordinators on McTeigue's "V for Vendetta"-to help devise a style of fighting that would speak to the kind of movie they wanted to make.
"For this film, we didn't want to rely on wire work, camera tricks or visual effects," states Silver. "We wanted the verisimilitude of seeing and believing what's happening right in front of you. Chad and Dave thought outside the box and wanted to bring in the best in the business-parkour and free runners, acrobats, and guys from Jackie Chan's stunt team. They all worked together to deliver unbelievable stunt sequences above and beyond what we imagined."
Wherever you are, wherever you may go, you must never forget who you are, how you came to be. You are Ozunu. You are a part of me as I am a part of you.
The character of Raizo, played by Rain, is brought as a child to the orphanage run by Lord Ozunu, who heads the Ozunu Clan. There Raizo is trained to be a heartless assassin, but he also finds someone to give his heart to, Kiriko, another young trainee. Her terrible fate, however, seals Raizo's as well and he rejects the clan, making it his life's mission to try and stop them. Raizo's main objective is to trace his way back to the secret location of the Ozunu clan's orphanage and to make sure that no more children are kidnapped, brutalized and turned into assassins. At the same time he must prevent them from killing him as well.
Says Silver, "Raizo is so genuine, he is really trying to rise above the hand that was dealt him, to reject the monster who trained him, and become a better person than he was taught to be."
"Raizo is a great assassin, one of the best students Lord Ozunu has ever had," says Rain. "But the bloodshed gets to him, and he has to escape. But you can never leave openly. And by leaving, he must betray Ozunu, who will then stop at nothing to destroy Raizo. So Raizo leads a quiet, anonymous life...knowing that one day, Ozunu will find him."
The role of Raizo called for an actor with a special intensity, who could convey a lot of emotion in a very subtle way.
"Rain is smart and instinctive and incredibly dedicated," says McTeigue. "He was a joy to work with."
Silver adds, "Rain really is a magnetic personality. You can't take your eyes off of him, he commands the screen."
Operating in the outside world, Raizo must stay one step ahead of the clan. But the murders are being investigated, and one researcher at Europol stumbles onto the notion of the nine ancient clans that have trained assassins-ninjas to perform murders for a fee: the price of a pound of gold. But she is getting too close, and she is now marked for death by the Ozunu clan. Raizo saves her life, and they are forced to go on the run together.
Naomie Harris plays agent Mika Coretti. "I just loved the character and felt a real connection with Mika," relates Harris. "She is different from any character I've played before. I really liked her passion and enthusiasm, and that she believes anything is possible, which is what I always believed as well. Like the fantastical is possible."
"Naomie absolutely got what we were trying to do," says McTeigue. "The character of Mika is really strong and Naomie saw that and completely took her on."
"Mika's investigating this bizarre myth, this legend, this rumor," says Sand. "Her obsession leads her into terrifying danger, but also leads her to the truth."
"Mika's work is really her entire life," says Harris. "So when she finds something, she is like a dog with a bone. She doesn't let go of it until she's worked everything out. She likes putting the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle together. She's found a lot of evidence to prove that ninjas exist, and she's not letting it go."
Mika's initial challenge is convincing her boss, Ryan Maslow, that she's onto something real. British actor Ben Miles, who plays the skeptical agent, says, "I play a kind of hardened cop. One of his young researchers, Mika, comes to him with a seemingly harebrained scheme about ninjas assassinating people now, in the 21st century. He tells her that she can't seriously think that some guys dressed in black with swords are going around knocking off these high-profile political figures. But Maslow doesn't always do things by the book; he has a bit of a maverick approach and may have his own plans, so he lets her go with it, and the movie takes on this suspenseful layer upon layer of who you can trust, who you can't trust, whose side should you be on. It's a great kind of clash of thriller, film noir and martial arts."
Miles, who first worked with McTeigue and the producers on "V for Vendetta," enjoyed working with his old friends again. "They have this verve and enthusiasm and a kind of unpredictability, so it was great fun on many levels. Plus getting to do all the action stuff, you can't beat it."
Through Mika's research, she helps Raizo find his way back to the source: the orphanage and his original master, Lord Ozunu. Legendary martial artist and famed ninja movie veteran Sho Kosugi -who has participated in more than 300 tournaments and numerous films, including six previous ninja movies- took on the role, which thrilled the filmmakers.
"If you've ever watched any ninja films from the 1980s, you know that Sho Kosugi is the ninja; he is the man," asserts McTeigue. "He was the only person who could impart the discipline of Lord Ozunu. He embodied the clan master." Of course, the actor was nothing like the character he played. "Every time he had to do something mean or aggressive, he did it, but as soon as I called 'Cut,' he'd say, 'Oh my gosh, he's a very bad man, that clan master!' And he'd start laughing and smiling."
Although he was playing a bad guy, Kosugi -who has studied martial arts since the age of five and who still practices about three hours daily- truly appreciated the thought that went into creating his character. "I was shocked when I saw the script, when I saw the name Ozunu, I smiled because what most people don't know is there was a real Ozunu, who was born in the Kinki District and is the ancestor of the Shugenja, mountain warriors who practiced Shugendo. He's an ancestor of the ninjutsu. So the research was so good. To play this role, I was honored to do that."
Ozunu's strongest weapon in the fight against Raizo and Europol is his prot間
NINJA ASSASSIN
(Notes supplied by Warner Bros)
Raizo (Rain) is 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 Berlin, Raizo and Mika must trust one another if they hope to survive...and finally bring down the elusive Ozunu Clan.
"Ninja Assassin" is directed by James McTeigue from a screenplay by Matthew Sand and J. Michael Straczynski. The film stars Korean pop star Rain, Naomie Harris, Ben Miles, Rick Yune and legendary martial arts performer Sho Kosugi. Joel Silver, Andy Wachowski, Larry Wachowski and Grant Hill are the film's producers, with Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni and Steve Richards serving as executive producers.
The behind-the-scenes creative team includes director of photography Karl Walter Lindenlaub, production designer Graham "Grace" Walker, editor Gian Ganziano, editor Joseph Jett Sally, costume designer Carlo Poggioli and composer Ilan Eshkeri.
Warner Bros. Pictures presents, in association with Legendary Pictures and Dark Castle Entertainment, a Silver Pictures Production in association with Anarchos Productions, "Ninja Assassin."
Opening nationwide on November 25, 2009, the film will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.
The film has been rated R by the MPAA for strong bloody stylized violence throughout, and language. www.Ninja-Assassin-Movie.com
For downloadable general information and photos please visit: http://press.warnerbros.com
ABOUT THE PRODUCTION
Betrayal begets blood.
This is the law of the Nine Clans.
This is the way of the ninja.
They are the stuff of legend, but for their victims they are all too real. Their swords and shuriken fly fast and, in the blink of an eye, cut to the bone, creating a bloody spray in the wake of the blade. The masters of stealth and dealers of death, these specters strike without warning and strike fear in the hearts of their enemies. No one is safe. Ninjas are the special forces of the martial arts world, and director James McTeigue and producers Joel Silver, Andy and Larry Wachowski and Grant Hill wanted to bring them to the screen as never before.
States producer Silver, "We each felt that the pure martial arts film is a kind of a subgenre that hasn't really had its due in the U.S. We were always talking about doing something like taking the legend of the ninja, which dates back to the 14th century, and dropping this silent killer into a truly modern world."
The filmmakers wanted to utilize the classic ninja movie structure in which an enigmatic master schools select children to become unbelievable fighters or assassins, who people in the "real world" of the film believe to be a myth. That is, of course, until their two worlds intersect and the disbelievers witness these incredible martial artists in action.
"Ninjas were the shadowy characters who always came out of the darkness," says director McTeigue, who also recalls the influences of his upbringing in Australia. "We got anime from Japan and a lot of the TV serials as well, like 'The Samurai' and 'The Phantom Agents'-shows that had elements of the folkloric ninja in them, where the characters were raised in an orphanage or the like. For this film, we talked about those classic elements, but also adding an edgy film noir aspect to it."
"It's no secret that each of us, Larry and Andy in particular, has a strong affinity for Japanese storytelling and culture," offers producer Hill, "but how does the world of the ninja wrap itself around the 21st century?"
That became the job of screenwriters Matthew Sand and J. Michael Straczynski, who were brought on board to pen the script.
"I trained in karate all through college, and the martial arts have been a big part of my life for a long time," says Sand. "So to get to write the kind of ninja movie I've always wanted to see was a dream come true."
"I've always loved the genre, but it seemed like no one had made a serious ninja movie in a long time, at least not in the West," notes Straczynski. "Ninjas have been used so often for comic relief that it felt as if no one was taking them seriously any longer. The chance to make a movie that presented ninjas as being scary as hell was very appealing," he smiles, "and working with the Wachowskis is always rewarding and intellectually daunting because they both have these 12-story brains and you really have to be on your toes to keep up with them."
The screenplay began to take shape. Says Sand, "It's an origin story. The orphanage-the idea of these ninjas being a family in a twisted, dark way-and one man, Raizo, coming to terms with a substitute father who was the most awful father imaginable. Where Raizo came from as a character is exactly what the ninja clans are all about. They made him. Motivated by a lost love, his reacting against them rather than becoming what they had in mind, along with the story of the agent investigating the clans, made it a different type of a ninja movie than we'd ever seen."
In order to be certain they could make the kind of film they all wanted to see, they had to find the perfect Raizo-someone who was not only able to take on the physical demands of the character's warrior side, but who could also be a believable leading man.
"The day that Rain did his first scene in 'Speed Racer,'" recalls Silver, "the Wachowski brothers called me and said, 'This guy is unbelievable. He's a natural. He is our dream come true.' And we began to plan 'Ninja Assassin' immediately."
McTeigue says, "Even though it was a relatively small role, Rain's physical ability was so good that we thought if we could do an all-out ninja movie, he would be the one to do it with."
"When we were working on that film, Larry and Andy approached me and asked if I would be interested in being a ninja," remembers Rain. "How could I say no to that? I told them, 'Tell me when and where and I'll be there.'"
Although Rain plays Raizo, the central role, the filmmakers knew that the real star of "Ninja Assassin" would be the stunning martial arts sequences, and to accomplish them they'd need the best. They called in legendary stunt choreographers Chad Stahelski and Dave Leitch-who've worked with the Wachowskis, Silver and Hill since "The Matrix" days and who got their start as stunt coordinators on McTeigue's "V for Vendetta"-to help devise a style of fighting that would speak to the kind of movie they wanted to make.
"For this film, we didn't want to rely on wire work, camera tricks or visual effects," states Silver. "We wanted the verisimilitude of seeing and believing what's happening right in front of you. Chad and Dave thought outside the box and wanted to bring in the best in the business-parkour and free runners, acrobats, and guys from Jackie Chan's stunt team. They all worked together to deliver unbelievable stunt sequences above and beyond what we imagined."
Wherever you are, wherever you may go, you must never forget who you are, how you came to be. You are Ozunu. You are a part of me as I am a part of you.
The character of Raizo, played by Rain, is brought as a child to the orphanage run by Lord Ozunu, who heads the Ozunu Clan. There Raizo is trained to be a heartless assassin, but he also finds someone to give his heart to, Kiriko, another young trainee. Her terrible fate, however, seals Raizo's as well and he rejects the clan, making it his life's mission to try and stop them. Raizo's main objective is to trace his way back to the secret location of the Ozunu clan's orphanage and to make sure that no more children are kidnapped, brutalized and turned into assassins. At the same time he must prevent them from killing him as well.
Says Silver, "Raizo is so genuine, he is really trying to rise above the hand that was dealt him, to reject the monster who trained him, and become a better person than he was taught to be."
"Raizo is a great assassin, one of the best students Lord Ozunu has ever had," says Rain. "But the bloodshed gets to him, and he has to escape. But you can never leave openly. And by leaving, he must betray Ozunu, who will then stop at nothing to destroy Raizo. So Raizo leads a quiet, anonymous life...knowing that one day, Ozunu will find him."
The role of Raizo called for an actor with a special intensity, who could convey a lot of emotion in a very subtle way.
"Rain is smart and instinctive and incredibly dedicated," says McTeigue. "He was a joy to work with."
Silver adds, "Rain really is a magnetic personality. You can't take your eyes off of him, he commands the screen."
Operating in the outside world, Raizo must stay one step ahead of the clan. But the murders are being investigated, and one researcher at Europol stumbles onto the notion of the nine ancient clans that have trained assassins-ninjas to perform murders for a fee: the price of a pound of gold. But she is getting too close, and she is now marked for death by the Ozunu clan. Raizo saves her life, and they are forced to go on the run together.
Naomie Harris plays agent Mika Coretti. "I just loved the character and felt a real connection with Mika," relates Harris. "She is different from any character I've played before. I really liked her passion and enthusiasm, and that she believes anything is possible, which is what I always believed as well. Like the fantastical is possible."
"Naomie absolutely got what we were trying to do," says McTeigue. "The character of Mika is really strong and Naomie saw that and completely took her on."
"Mika's investigating this bizarre myth, this legend, this rumor," says Sand. "Her obsession leads her into terrifying danger, but also leads her to the truth."
"Mika's work is really her entire life," says Harris. "So when she finds something, she is like a dog with a bone. She doesn't let go of it until she's worked everything out. She likes putting the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle together. She's found a lot of evidence to prove that ninjas exist, and she's not letting it go."
Mika's initial challenge is convincing her boss, Ryan Maslow, that she's onto something real. British actor Ben Miles, who plays the skeptical agent, says, "I play a kind of hardened cop. One of his young researchers, Mika, comes to him with a seemingly harebrained scheme about ninjas assassinating people now, in the 21st century. He tells her that she can't seriously think that some guys dressed in black with swords are going around knocking off these high-profile political figures. But Maslow doesn't always do things by the book; he has a bit of a maverick approach and may have his own plans, so he lets her go with it, and the movie takes on this suspenseful layer upon layer of who you can trust, who you can't trust, whose side should you be on. It's a great kind of clash of thriller, film noir and martial arts."
Miles, who first worked with McTeigue and the producers on "V for Vendetta," enjoyed working with his old friends again. "They have this verve and enthusiasm and a kind of unpredictability, so it was great fun on many levels. Plus getting to do all the action stuff, you can't beat it."
Through Mika's research, she helps Raizo find his way back to the source: the orphanage and his original master, Lord Ozunu. Legendary martial artist and famed ninja movie veteran Sho Kosugi -who has participated in more than 300 tournaments and numerous films, including six previous ninja movies- took on the role, which thrilled the filmmakers.
"If you've ever watched any ninja films from the 1980s, you know that Sho Kosugi is the ninja; he is the man," asserts McTeigue. "He was the only person who could impart the discipline of Lord Ozunu. He embodied the clan master." Of course, the actor was nothing like the character he played. "Every time he had to do something mean or aggressive, he did it, but as soon as I called 'Cut,' he'd say, 'Oh my gosh, he's a very bad man, that clan master!' And he'd start laughing and smiling."
Although he was playing a bad guy, Kosugi -who has studied martial arts since the age of five and who still practices about three hours daily- truly appreciated the thought that went into creating his character. "I was shocked when I saw the script, when I saw the name Ozunu, I smiled because what most people don't know is there was a real Ozunu, who was born in the Kinki District and is the ancestor of the Shugenja, mountain warriors who practiced Shugendo. He's an ancestor of the ninjutsu. So the research was so good. To play this role, I was honored to do that."
Ozunu's strongest weapon in the fight against Raizo and Europol is his prot間
http://rain-cloud.co.kr/board/view.asp?mstSeq=7&mstpSeq=&bcmSeq=4&seq=17027&page=401&searchType=title&searchStr=
ratoka
Ninja Assassin Review - Screenrant
http://screenrant.com/ninja-assassin-reviews-pauly-35629/
Rating:
2.5 out of 5
Short Version: Ninja Assassin has many flaws; however, the ninjas are not one of them. All of the ninja action in this film is awesome, and for fans of the genre that’s probably enough.
Screen Rant’s Paul Young reviews Ninja Assassin
Ninja Assassin is the first action movie this Fall that delivers on what it promises: Lots of ninja action.
I’m a sucker for a good ninja fight, no matter how choreographed it is. The silent-but-deadly ninja was a huge part of the 80’s action movie sub-culture; since I grew up in the 80’s, I have seen every one that I can get my hands on (yes that includes American Ninja, I, II, III, IV AND V). Ninjas doing what they do best (being sneaky) have slowly crept into popular culture over time. Mythbusters did an entire episode on ninja myth and lore and the website AskANinja.com has grown in popularity in the recent years.
Ninja Assassin is a good (not great) attempt at making a good ninja action flick by director James McTeigue (V for Vendetta), but it’s far from perfect. The opening scene sets the tone for the type of action we are going to be treated to: Highly stylized, bloody and violent as hell (just the way a ninja would do it). There are so many severed limbs in Ninja Assassin that I was beginning to think I was watching a Saw movie or Saving Private Ryan (except with ninjas).
The plot of the movie is actually pretty good – that is, the ninja story is good. The non-ninja related material however, is garbage. The main focus is one of revenge, and to a lesser degree redemption. I also couldn’t help but feel a bit of sibling rivalry between Raizo (Rain) and Takeshi (Rick Yune) as they compete to win favor with their “father” Ozunu, played brilliantly by old school movie ninja legend Sho Kosugi.
There are 9 ninja clans that have been around for 1,000 years and they increase their ranks by kidnapping children and raising them in the way of the ninja until they become lean, mean ass-kicking machines. Over time, Raizo finds that he has a place in his heart for something other than ninjary. Her name is Kiriko (Kylie Goldstein) and she is a young girl in his clan.
The relationship between Kiriko and Raizo is actually rather touching and he soon begins to have feelings for her – until she decides to run away from the clan and he doesn’t go with her. That’s a big no-no in clan rules and she is ritualistically murdered by his “brother” Takeshi at the orders of Ozunu in front of all the young clan members.
Jump forward a few years to Raizo’s first mission (presumably on his 18th birthday). He turns his back on the clan, his brother and his father and becomes one of the hunted. If writers Michael Sand and J. Michael Straczynski had just stuck to that story, then the whole movie would have been very interesting. Unfortunately, they decided to include several throw away characters and a ridiculous contrived sub-plot involving Europol agents Mika Coretti (Naomie Harris) and her supervisor Ryan Maslow (Ben Miles).
Mika finds a money trail that links several political murders to a group of ninja assassins by using nothing more than a vague reference to 100 lbs of gold and a bank deposit. The movie really goes off the tracks when the non-ninja characters are on screen. In fact, everything that isn’t ninja related in this movie just plain sucks and makes no sense whatsoever.
Mika and Ryan are based in Berlin, Germany and work as Europol agents but they are under investigation by the FBI, CIA, and Homeland Security for apparently getting too close to the “truth about ninjas.” Um, OK. Then for some unexplained reason, a Russian operative is introduced to the story for no reason other than Mika to end up with a box for of Ozunu Clan related scrolls and pictures.
Ryan then has a covert meeting with her (in a cliché parking garage) and tells her to get out and run for her life because all these big time police organizations, and ninjas, are after them. Ninjas attack in the dark, using the shadows to hide and wait for the right time to pounce on them victims. So what does Mika do when she gets home and finds out the power is off to her building and KNOWS that ninjas are coming for her? Why go into the dark building alone and try to pack of course, duh!
The rest of the non-ninja story is more of the same uninspired filler, including a mandatory Hollywood Bush-bashing reference to Guantanamo Bay. That entire scene was nothing more than a segue to have ninjas fight in a massive warehouse. Guys with guns versus ninjas with swords and stars; guess who wins that fight? Mika is constantly telling Raizo that “we can trust Maslow” but each time they do, the situation worsens. Is Maslow, bad? Is Maslow good? Who cares… Where are the ninjas?!?
Well they’re here. When the ninjas are on the screen – in the classic full-ninja entire, including the black hood, split toe shoes and dual swords – it is truly remarkable. Fight choreographers Chad Stahelski (The Expendables, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Rambo ) and David Leitch (Tron Legacy, Speed Racer) are in top martial art form here because every second there is a ninja on screen, then you can be sure the action is going to be intense.
My one complaint about the fights in Ninja Assassin was the use of all the digital blood. The same technique was used in Blood the Last Vampire and it’s becoming more prevalent in Japanese-stylized fights. I’m just not that into it yet I suppose; perhaps it will grow on me in time. The other thing I noticed is that the blood in every human on the planet is sitting in their veins at around 120 psi, because when they get hit by a sword of ninja star, their blood literally explodes from their bodies.
My favorite part of Ninja Assassin had to be the use of the digital ninja stars. Listening to them swoosh by my head in 7.1 digital surround sound was fantastic and watching ninjas mow people down with them instead of bullets was great.
Overall, I’d go see Ninja Assassin again. It’s the only real choice this holiday weekend for someone wanting to watch an action movie. Fantastic Mr. Fox and The Blind Side, both of which I hear are good films, would be GREAT films if they just had one thing in them: NINJAS!
Rating:
2.5 out of 5
Short Version: Ninja Assassin has many flaws; however, the ninjas are not one of them. All of the ninja action in this film is awesome, and for fans of the genre that’s probably enough.
Screen Rant’s Paul Young reviews Ninja Assassin
Ninja Assassin is the first action movie this Fall that delivers on what it promises: Lots of ninja action.
I’m a sucker for a good ninja fight, no matter how choreographed it is. The silent-but-deadly ninja was a huge part of the 80’s action movie sub-culture; since I grew up in the 80’s, I have seen every one that I can get my hands on (yes that includes American Ninja, I, II, III, IV AND V). Ninjas doing what they do best (being sneaky) have slowly crept into popular culture over time. Mythbusters did an entire episode on ninja myth and lore and the website AskANinja.com has grown in popularity in the recent years.
Ninja Assassin is a good (not great) attempt at making a good ninja action flick by director James McTeigue (V for Vendetta), but it’s far from perfect. The opening scene sets the tone for the type of action we are going to be treated to: Highly stylized, bloody and violent as hell (just the way a ninja would do it). There are so many severed limbs in Ninja Assassin that I was beginning to think I was watching a Saw movie or Saving Private Ryan (except with ninjas).
The plot of the movie is actually pretty good – that is, the ninja story is good. The non-ninja related material however, is garbage. The main focus is one of revenge, and to a lesser degree redemption. I also couldn’t help but feel a bit of sibling rivalry between Raizo (Rain) and Takeshi (Rick Yune) as they compete to win favor with their “father” Ozunu, played brilliantly by old school movie ninja legend Sho Kosugi.
There are 9 ninja clans that have been around for 1,000 years and they increase their ranks by kidnapping children and raising them in the way of the ninja until they become lean, mean ass-kicking machines. Over time, Raizo finds that he has a place in his heart for something other than ninjary. Her name is Kiriko (Kylie Goldstein) and she is a young girl in his clan.
The relationship between Kiriko and Raizo is actually rather touching and he soon begins to have feelings for her – until she decides to run away from the clan and he doesn’t go with her. That’s a big no-no in clan rules and she is ritualistically murdered by his “brother” Takeshi at the orders of Ozunu in front of all the young clan members.
Jump forward a few years to Raizo’s first mission (presumably on his 18th birthday). He turns his back on the clan, his brother and his father and becomes one of the hunted. If writers Michael Sand and J. Michael Straczynski had just stuck to that story, then the whole movie would have been very interesting. Unfortunately, they decided to include several throw away characters and a ridiculous contrived sub-plot involving Europol agents Mika Coretti (Naomie Harris) and her supervisor Ryan Maslow (Ben Miles).
Mika finds a money trail that links several political murders to a group of ninja assassins by using nothing more than a vague reference to 100 lbs of gold and a bank deposit. The movie really goes off the tracks when the non-ninja characters are on screen. In fact, everything that isn’t ninja related in this movie just plain sucks and makes no sense whatsoever.
Mika and Ryan are based in Berlin, Germany and work as Europol agents but they are under investigation by the FBI, CIA, and Homeland Security for apparently getting too close to the “truth about ninjas.” Um, OK. Then for some unexplained reason, a Russian operative is introduced to the story for no reason other than Mika to end up with a box for of Ozunu Clan related scrolls and pictures.
Ryan then has a covert meeting with her (in a cliché parking garage) and tells her to get out and run for her life because all these big time police organizations, and ninjas, are after them. Ninjas attack in the dark, using the shadows to hide and wait for the right time to pounce on them victims. So what does Mika do when she gets home and finds out the power is off to her building and KNOWS that ninjas are coming for her? Why go into the dark building alone and try to pack of course, duh!
The rest of the non-ninja story is more of the same uninspired filler, including a mandatory Hollywood Bush-bashing reference to Guantanamo Bay. That entire scene was nothing more than a segue to have ninjas fight in a massive warehouse. Guys with guns versus ninjas with swords and stars; guess who wins that fight? Mika is constantly telling Raizo that “we can trust Maslow” but each time they do, the situation worsens. Is Maslow, bad? Is Maslow good? Who cares… Where are the ninjas?!?
Well they’re here. When the ninjas are on the screen – in the classic full-ninja entire, including the black hood, split toe shoes and dual swords – it is truly remarkable. Fight choreographers Chad Stahelski (The Expendables, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Rambo ) and David Leitch (Tron Legacy, Speed Racer) are in top martial art form here because every second there is a ninja on screen, then you can be sure the action is going to be intense.
My one complaint about the fights in Ninja Assassin was the use of all the digital blood. The same technique was used in Blood the Last Vampire and it’s becoming more prevalent in Japanese-stylized fights. I’m just not that into it yet I suppose; perhaps it will grow on me in time. The other thing I noticed is that the blood in every human on the planet is sitting in their veins at around 120 psi, because when they get hit by a sword of ninja star, their blood literally explodes from their bodies.
My favorite part of Ninja Assassin had to be the use of the digital ninja stars. Listening to them swoosh by my head in 7.1 digital surround sound was fantastic and watching ninjas mow people down with them instead of bullets was great.
Overall, I’d go see Ninja Assassin again. It’s the only real choice this holiday weekend for someone wanting to watch an action movie. Fantastic Mr. Fox and The Blind Side, both of which I hear are good films, would be GREAT films if they just had one thing in them: NINJAS!
http://rain-cloud.co.kr/board/view.asp?mstSeq=7&mstpSeq=&bcmSeq=4&seq=17028&page=401&searchType=title&searchStr=
ratoka
When it Rain(s), it really pours
By Raymond de Asis Lo, L.A. Correspondent (The Philippine Star)
Updated November 26, 2009 12:00 AM
MANILA, Philippines - Rain (whose real name is Jung Ji Hoon, lead star of Full House
which will soon air its Filipino adaptation on GMA 7) walked into the
little corner assigned to us for the round-table interviews inside the
famous Yamashiro restaurant, which sits on top of the Hollywood Hills,
with a big smile on his face and an English interpreter in tow. He was
holding in his hands his watch and his bracelet. “I love bling-bling,” he said. We asked him why he wasn’t wearing them and he said because it was heavy.
The Korean superstar is in town to promote his first major Hollywood movie after doing a bit part in the movie Speed Racer two years ago.
The Philippine Star met with him over the weekend for the junket of Warner Bros.’ latest film Ninja Assassin, a bloody and violent film that puts to shame some of the most violent films ever made (that’s not counting the recent spate of mindless gory horror movies, of course!) in Hollywood. The movie feels like watching a blockbuster video game only that this one is live-action and way more visually arresting and exciting. The fight scenes are choreographed like a ballet only that the props are the flying limbs and the sputtering of blood from everywhere. The screening this writer attended ended with a loud cheer from the audience.
Tall, handsome, and charismatic (he kept referring to his publicist as “my sexy publicist”), the actor made the lady journalist from Spain exclaim that he looked like he was only 21 years old. Rain is 27. He now wears his hair short and looked very lean — thanks to a diet of chicken breasts, vegetables, salmon, and white eggs. He also had to endure rigorous and punishing training for eight months!
“I hate martial arts!” he joked. “I had to make my body fit like Bruce Lee. I trained for eight months, five days a week for eight hours a day — it was horrible! I learned a lot of martial arts and learned how to use the chain.” The actor had a stunt double who said that Rain easily coped with the training regimen and even helped in setting up some of his fight sequences. To show the strength that he gained from the training, there is a scene in the movie where he does a standing up push-up — on a bed of nails, at that!
Asked if there were any instances that he didn’t feel like training because his body was hurting and he didn’t want to carry on, Rain replied, “No, it’s my big opportunity… I wanted to focus on the film so I did my best. Joel (Silver) is producing, the Wachowski brothers (the makers of the Matrix Trilogy) are producing, how can I say no to that?”
The actor had to give up touring and performing for almost a year to make this movie. This sacrifice he said was necessary because he always wanted to work in Hollywood . “My role model is Al Pacino. He is my hero and I love Scarface — it is my favorite.”
But if he can have his choice, he’d like to work with Megan Fox. “I love Megan. She’s lovely.” The sultry actress was quoted to have once said: “There’s this Korean Justin Timberlake named Rain, and I’m really in his situation now. I’m trying to fix this up. I’m working hard.” Whatever she meant by it, tabloids picked it up and proclaimed that Megan has a crush on the singer.
Rain portrays a ninja assassin who is being hunted by his former master after defying an order to kill someone. His casting was not accidental. He didn’t have to audition for his part, either. The movie was written with him in mind. The star first got Joel Silver’s attention seven years ago in Japan when the actor caused a commotion when hordes of screaming fans stormed a hotel lobby just as the Hollywood mega producer was doing a round of movie promotion.
When Silver and the Wachowski brothers were looking for an Asian actor for a part in the Speed Racer movie, the head of Warner Bros. in Japan recommended the Korean sensation, who immediately grabbed the chance despite having a tight schedule touring Asia.
It was during the production of Speed Racer that Silver discovered Rain’s potential to crossover to Hollywood. “We were trying to find a new martial arts star and we saw Rain and saw his abilities. We designed the movie around Rain. It was designed as a movie to highlight his ability and I think that it worked and the audience will agree that he’ll have a big career.”
This huge Hollywood break for Rain is the pop star’s biggest in an otherwise already mega-successful career as a music superstar in Asia.
“I’d like to do everything: Romance, comedy, action, horror, yeah, I would definitely like to continue my career in Hollywood. Keep watching for me,” he said. And although he plans to move to L.A. eventually, he doesn’t plan on giving up his career in Asia. Rain, who still considers Seoul home, plans to divide his time between Asia and Hollywood. “I will concentrate on both because I love my fans. And Asia is a big market, and Hollywood is, too… I am going to be a superstar!” he teased.
Told that he already is a superstar, he feigned surprise and said, “Really!? Thank you! I’ll do my best in getting better.”
Rain is easily the biggest Asian sensation today. His face has graced various advertising campaigns all over the region. He is followed by screaming girls wherever he goes which has gotten so extreme that at one point a girl showed up in an airport in China proclaiming that she was carrying his son.
“This one fan claimed that she had my baby,” he recalled. “It was crazy. We were at an airport in China and it was so scary. She looked like…,” he paused and acted how the woman looked. His bodyguards had to drive the woman away. He, however, made it clear that he likes the adulation he gets from the girls. “It’s my dream!” he said in jest.
His rise to the top is something that he has always been proud of. “When I was young, my mother passed away and we were so poor but it’s because of her that I am here.” The Internet is filled with unconfirmed stories including that of a young Rain drinking from a glass of water that was later discovered to have a dead cockroach in it. “My mother is my hero. She’s my angel and she’s always here,” he said pointing to his heart.
He now considers his life comfortable. “Now, I am… just a little bit rich,” he said. “Life is comfortable.”
He credits his mentor Park Jin Young in helping him chart his impressive rise to stardom across Asia, yet he is still aiming to go higher — as high as he could possibly get.
A known workaholic, Rain sees no problem working on another martial arts movie. “I want to work with Joel again,” he said. “And I love Bruce Lee, I love Jackie (Chan), I love Jet Lee. They are my heroes. But I am so powerful, I am so fast, I am younger and I am so handsome than them,” he said then paused and smiled. “I am kidding! Please don’t tell Jackie, he’s my brother.” He said that Jackie has always been nice to him and has even given him tips on how to make it big in Hollywood. “Just do your best always,” Rain recalled Jackie telling him.
The night before our interview, Rain graced a Hollywood nightclub to promote his movie and was expectedly mobbed by a throng of young girls. “I love L.A., I love the girls,” he said.
Life after shooting the movie has been a lot of fun to the star. “No more workouts, no more chicken breasts,” he said. He has been eating lots of his favorite chocolates since filming ended but sees no problem going back to the hard workout regime he followed if he is asked again.
We ended the interview on a high note with the five other journalists from Europe all in awe of the Asian superstar!
Ninja Assassin is now showing in theaters.
source
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=526884&publicationSubCategoryId=70
The Korean superstar is in town to promote his first major Hollywood movie after doing a bit part in the movie Speed Racer two years ago.
The Philippine Star met with him over the weekend for the junket of Warner Bros.’ latest film Ninja Assassin, a bloody and violent film that puts to shame some of the most violent films ever made (that’s not counting the recent spate of mindless gory horror movies, of course!) in Hollywood. The movie feels like watching a blockbuster video game only that this one is live-action and way more visually arresting and exciting. The fight scenes are choreographed like a ballet only that the props are the flying limbs and the sputtering of blood from everywhere. The screening this writer attended ended with a loud cheer from the audience.
Tall, handsome, and charismatic (he kept referring to his publicist as “my sexy publicist”), the actor made the lady journalist from Spain exclaim that he looked like he was only 21 years old. Rain is 27. He now wears his hair short and looked very lean — thanks to a diet of chicken breasts, vegetables, salmon, and white eggs. He also had to endure rigorous and punishing training for eight months!
“I hate martial arts!” he joked. “I had to make my body fit like Bruce Lee. I trained for eight months, five days a week for eight hours a day — it was horrible! I learned a lot of martial arts and learned how to use the chain.” The actor had a stunt double who said that Rain easily coped with the training regimen and even helped in setting up some of his fight sequences. To show the strength that he gained from the training, there is a scene in the movie where he does a standing up push-up — on a bed of nails, at that!
Asked if there were any instances that he didn’t feel like training because his body was hurting and he didn’t want to carry on, Rain replied, “No, it’s my big opportunity… I wanted to focus on the film so I did my best. Joel (Silver) is producing, the Wachowski brothers (the makers of the Matrix Trilogy) are producing, how can I say no to that?”
The actor had to give up touring and performing for almost a year to make this movie. This sacrifice he said was necessary because he always wanted to work in Hollywood . “My role model is Al Pacino. He is my hero and I love Scarface — it is my favorite.”
But if he can have his choice, he’d like to work with Megan Fox. “I love Megan. She’s lovely.” The sultry actress was quoted to have once said: “There’s this Korean Justin Timberlake named Rain, and I’m really in his situation now. I’m trying to fix this up. I’m working hard.” Whatever she meant by it, tabloids picked it up and proclaimed that Megan has a crush on the singer.
Rain portrays a ninja assassin who is being hunted by his former master after defying an order to kill someone. His casting was not accidental. He didn’t have to audition for his part, either. The movie was written with him in mind. The star first got Joel Silver’s attention seven years ago in Japan when the actor caused a commotion when hordes of screaming fans stormed a hotel lobby just as the Hollywood mega producer was doing a round of movie promotion.
When Silver and the Wachowski brothers were looking for an Asian actor for a part in the Speed Racer movie, the head of Warner Bros. in Japan recommended the Korean sensation, who immediately grabbed the chance despite having a tight schedule touring Asia.
It was during the production of Speed Racer that Silver discovered Rain’s potential to crossover to Hollywood. “We were trying to find a new martial arts star and we saw Rain and saw his abilities. We designed the movie around Rain. It was designed as a movie to highlight his ability and I think that it worked and the audience will agree that he’ll have a big career.”
This huge Hollywood break for Rain is the pop star’s biggest in an otherwise already mega-successful career as a music superstar in Asia.
“I’d like to do everything: Romance, comedy, action, horror, yeah, I would definitely like to continue my career in Hollywood. Keep watching for me,” he said. And although he plans to move to L.A. eventually, he doesn’t plan on giving up his career in Asia. Rain, who still considers Seoul home, plans to divide his time between Asia and Hollywood. “I will concentrate on both because I love my fans. And Asia is a big market, and Hollywood is, too… I am going to be a superstar!” he teased.
Told that he already is a superstar, he feigned surprise and said, “Really!? Thank you! I’ll do my best in getting better.”
Rain is easily the biggest Asian sensation today. His face has graced various advertising campaigns all over the region. He is followed by screaming girls wherever he goes which has gotten so extreme that at one point a girl showed up in an airport in China proclaiming that she was carrying his son.
“This one fan claimed that she had my baby,” he recalled. “It was crazy. We were at an airport in China and it was so scary. She looked like…,” he paused and acted how the woman looked. His bodyguards had to drive the woman away. He, however, made it clear that he likes the adulation he gets from the girls. “It’s my dream!” he said in jest.
His rise to the top is something that he has always been proud of. “When I was young, my mother passed away and we were so poor but it’s because of her that I am here.” The Internet is filled with unconfirmed stories including that of a young Rain drinking from a glass of water that was later discovered to have a dead cockroach in it. “My mother is my hero. She’s my angel and she’s always here,” he said pointing to his heart.
He now considers his life comfortable. “Now, I am… just a little bit rich,” he said. “Life is comfortable.”
He credits his mentor Park Jin Young in helping him chart his impressive rise to stardom across Asia, yet he is still aiming to go higher — as high as he could possibly get.
A known workaholic, Rain sees no problem working on another martial arts movie. “I want to work with Joel again,” he said. “And I love Bruce Lee, I love Jackie (Chan), I love Jet Lee. They are my heroes. But I am so powerful, I am so fast, I am younger and I am so handsome than them,” he said then paused and smiled. “I am kidding! Please don’t tell Jackie, he’s my brother.” He said that Jackie has always been nice to him and has even given him tips on how to make it big in Hollywood. “Just do your best always,” Rain recalled Jackie telling him.
The night before our interview, Rain graced a Hollywood nightclub to promote his movie and was expectedly mobbed by a throng of young girls. “I love L.A., I love the girls,” he said.
Life after shooting the movie has been a lot of fun to the star. “No more workouts, no more chicken breasts,” he said. He has been eating lots of his favorite chocolates since filming ended but sees no problem going back to the hard workout regime he followed if he is asked again.
We ended the interview on a high note with the five other journalists from Europe all in awe of the Asian superstar!
Ninja Assassin is now showing in theaters.
source
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=526884&publicationSubCategoryId=70
http://rain-cloud.co.kr/board/view.asp?mstSeq=25&bcmSeq=5&seq=46092&page=534&searchType=title&searchStr=
rainlistings
Ninja Assassin Featured on YouTube frontpage
screencap by Jax
1 kép
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BiGrrr
RAIN on CNN Home Page!
EXCELLENT article on RAIN and N A : http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/11/24/rain.ninja.assassin/index.html
(CNN) -- South Korean pop star Rain, who stars in "Ninja Assassin," releasing nationwide on Wednesday, has all the trimmings of an international superstar in the making.
His talent, good looks and charming swagger have captured the devotion of the Asian continent, where tickets to his concerts evaporate in minutes. He was hailed as one of People magazine's most beautiful two years ago, and, despite being relatively unknown to most Americans, beat Stephen Colbert in a Time magazine online poll of most influential people in 2007.
Yet Rain's climb from unknown backup dancer to a member of Asia's A-list wasn't easy: His lack of Western features caused many music labels to look right past him and getting his footing in the United States has been particularly difficult.
Despite having six albums under his belt and selling out a two-day Madison Square Garden tour in 2006, Rain's "Justin Timberlake meets Usher" brand of bubble-gum pop never saturated pop charts here as it did in the East.
But Rain isn't one to accept defeat. "The more criticism I get, the more it gives me a stronger urge to win. So I try harder," he told CNN's Talk Asia.
Video: 'Very unique in this genre'
Video: Who is Rain?
"The more times I was turned down, the more I believed I was getting
closer to making it. A lot of people in Korea say that failure is the
mother of success, so I believed that more times I failed, the more
likely I was to succeed," he said.
The 27-year-old tested Hollywood waters with last year's "Speed Racer," but the action film, which he now calls a "warming up period," failed to give him cross-over recognition.
Now, Rain has a second shot at swimming in the American mainstream with another Wachowski produced film, the cut 'em and gut 'em "Ninja Assassin," where the pop star does most of his own stunts.
"I put my heart and soul into this movie," he said. Rain trained hard for months to get ready for the movie's slick violence.
"For about a year, I couldn't eat properly, I was working out from 7 in the morning to 5 in the afternoon," he said. "I went through a lot of pain in my efforts to get 100 percent close to the character that I was playing."
To get the opportunity to finally become an American household name, though, it's worth it. After all, Rain isn't the type of guy who shies away from a challenge.
"What I want to do now is start from the bottom again and build up a name in the U.S.," Rain said.
"I experienced firsthand what it means to be poor, what it means to go hungry, and that I think may be the reason, the root cause of why I'm able to work so hard even these days," he said.
BiGrrr
RAIN on CNN Home Page!
EXCELLENT article on RAIN and N A : http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/11/24/rain.ninja.assassin/index.html
From Asian pop star to 'Ninja Assassin'
November 25, 2009 -- Updated 1617 GMT (0017 HKT)
Fotók
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Korean singer Rain is a huge hit in Asia, but has struggled to find large success in the U.S.
- He starred in last year's "Speed Racer," and has the lead role in "Ninja Assassin"
- Rain said he isn't afraid of the hard work it'll take to make him a star in the U.S.
- He says he had to go through intense training for "Assassin"
(CNN) -- South Korean pop star Rain, who stars in "Ninja Assassin," releasing nationwide on Wednesday, has all the trimmings of an international superstar in the making.
His talent, good looks and charming swagger have captured the devotion of the Asian continent, where tickets to his concerts evaporate in minutes. He was hailed as one of People magazine's most beautiful two years ago, and, despite being relatively unknown to most Americans, beat Stephen Colbert in a Time magazine online poll of most influential people in 2007.
Yet Rain's climb from unknown backup dancer to a member of Asia's A-list wasn't easy: His lack of Western features caused many music labels to look right past him and getting his footing in the United States has been particularly difficult.
Despite having six albums under his belt and selling out a two-day Madison Square Garden tour in 2006, Rain's "Justin Timberlake meets Usher" brand of bubble-gum pop never saturated pop charts here as it did in the East.
But Rain isn't one to accept defeat. "The more criticism I get, the more it gives me a stronger urge to win. So I try harder," he told CNN's Talk Asia.
Video: 'Very unique in this genre'
Video: Who is Rain?
The 27-year-old tested Hollywood waters with last year's "Speed Racer," but the action film, which he now calls a "warming up period," failed to give him cross-over recognition.
Now, Rain has a second shot at swimming in the American mainstream with another Wachowski produced film, the cut 'em and gut 'em "Ninja Assassin," where the pop star does most of his own stunts.
"I put my heart and soul into this movie," he said. Rain trained hard for months to get ready for the movie's slick violence.
"For about a year, I couldn't eat properly, I was working out from 7 in the morning to 5 in the afternoon," he said. "I went through a lot of pain in my efforts to get 100 percent close to the character that I was playing."
To get the opportunity to finally become an American household name, though, it's worth it. After all, Rain isn't the type of guy who shies away from a challenge.
"What I want to do now is start from the bottom again and build up a name in the U.S.," Rain said.
"I experienced firsthand what it means to be poor, what it means to go hungry, and that I think may be the reason, the root cause of why I'm able to work so hard even these days," he said.
"I'm hoping people expect a lot from this movie, because I think they will not be disappointed."
http://rain-cloud.co.kr/board/view.asp?mstSeq=25&bcmSeq=5&seq=46096&page=534&searchType=title&searchStr=
Zarifah
[26-November-2009] Rain in Hong Kong
Source: OrientalDaily
1 fotó
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Linh
[Offical photos] Rain on movieweek
source : Movieweek
re-up by Linh @ rain-cloud
5 fotó
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ratoka
09-11-26 Rain Bi @ newspaper -Rain and diet for Ninja Assassin
From memo rain blog
1 fotó
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ratoka
Rain Bi @ HK Apple Daily
credit by shelleyshea
1 fotó
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ratoka
09-11-26 Rain Bi underwear postcard
source//6to5.co.kr
fotók
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ratoka
09-11-26 Rain Bi postcard
source//6to5.co.kr
4 fotó
ratoka schreenshot from Rain's docu
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ratoka
Rain Bi 6to5 picture
Credit//sizuku219
3 kép
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Zarifah
[20091125] Ninja Assassin - Rain@ Singapore Straits Times
Singapore Straits Times
25th November 2009
2 fotó
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kasumi
Ninja Assassin Singapore Movie Contest
1 fotó
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ratoka
09-11-26 Rain Bi new picture
http://rain-cloud.co.kr/board/view.asp?mstSeq=25&bcmSeq=5&seq=46108&page=533&searchType=title&searchStr=
ratoka
Rain featured in Philippine Star newspaper
Credit//rainlegend
2 kép
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ratoka
Rain Bi 6to5 picture
Credit//sizuku219
3 kép
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Zarifah
[20091125] Ninja Assassin - Rain@ Singapore Straits Times
Singapore Straits Times
25th November 2009
2 fotó
http://rain-cloud.co.kr/board/view.asp?mstSeq=25&bcmSeq=5&seq=46105&page=534&searchType=title&searchStr=
kasumi
Ninja Assassin Singapore Movie Contest
1 fotó
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ratoka
09-11-26 Rain Bi new picture
http://rain-cloud.co.kr/board/view.asp?mstSeq=25&bcmSeq=5&seq=46108&page=533&searchType=title&searchStr=
ratoka
Rain featured in Philippine Star newspaper
Credit//rainlegend
2 kép
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