Ninja: Shadow of a Tear, 2013.
Directed by Isaac Florentine.
Starring Scott Adkins, Kane Kosugi, Mika Hijii, Shun Sagata, Tim Man and Vithaya Pansringarm.
SYNOPSIS:
Ninjitsu master Casey is back and out for revenge when his pregnant wife is murdered.
British action star Scott Adkins has seen his star gradually rise in the last few years. He’s a franchise star thanks to his turn as Uri Boyka in Undisputed 2 and 3 (a fourth is in the works), as well as jumping aboard another franchise in Universal Solider: Day Of Reckoning, and also getting his face on the big screen in The Expendables 2. These days it’s a tough job launching yourself as an action star, and maintaining a long career, but Adkins is hitting full steam and seems set to emulate some of the success of his older contemporaries.
Ninja: Shadow of a Tear sees Adkins teaming, once again, with fight film specialist, Isaac Florentine. Director Florentine has worked with a number of iconic action stars over the years including Jean Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren and video legends like Olivier Gruner and Gary Daniels. However, Florentine’s most popular films have starred perhaps his best collaborator, Scott Adkins. Two Undisputed films together, and the first Ninja film. The combination of these two brings with it a certain expectation from action lovers. That is, full on high intensity fight sequences worthy of the big screen. Ninja: Shadow of a Tear provides just this.
Ninjitsu master Casey (Adkins) is living happily with his pregnant wife in Japan. After fighting off a couple of muggers, Casey is sent out to pick up snacks for his wife (Mika Hijii). Upon his return he finds her dead, choked by a barbed wire whip and it appears to be a retaliation from the two muggers. Casey vows revenge hoping to bring down the crime boss responsible. He’s lead to Thailand where he ploughs his way through countless bad guys, corrupt policemen and double crossers. It’s a simple revenge tale.
As one has come to expect from a Florentine and Adkins collaboration, the fight scenes are fantastic. Florentine, a martial artist himself, fully appreciates how to make a fight look good on screen, whilst they tend to use exceptionally imaginative fight choreographers. In this case it is Tim Man (who also appears as a vertically challenged, high kicking henchman). The cohesion of the choreography, the performers and the dynamic camera work of Ross Clarkson (serving as Director of Photography as well as operating) come together with great effect. It’s hard to pick a stand out fight sequence because there’s so many and they’re all brilliantly delivered.
Adkins is solid in the lead. His leading roles have been a little darker in recent years, but it’s pushing him as an actor, which is good. He’s becoming a reliable leading man in these sort of films, and not purely because of his physical ability. The rest of the cast, including genre stalwart, Kane Kosugi (son of Sho Kosugi, a specialist in films about Ninjas in the 80’s) are decent too.
The Thai locations give the film a nice look, and plenty of able and willing stunt performers to recklessly throw themselves around. Ross Clarkson, when he’s not plunging his camera into the heart of the action, makes the film look great, and beyond it’s low budget. This looks like a big screen picture. For any long term fans of Florentine, it’s clear that outside of the fight sequences he’s reigned in a lot of the strange flourishes that used to litter some of his older films. Lots of comical zooms, pans, usually in conjunction with a “whoosh” sound effect. He keeps the dramatic sequences simple and avoids some intrusive touches he may have been guilty of a decade or two ago.
In all, this is a top notch piece of entertainment for genre fans. An hour and a half of almost wall to wall fighting that feels like a glorious throwback to the 80’s. In the modern, Marvel lead world of crash course fight training, stunt doubles, wires, CGI and every trick in the book, this is old school. Adkins ploughs his way through hordes of stunt men in tightly choreographed mayhem, and it’s him throwing the kicks and performing feats on set that not even the best CGI artist could even dream of.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Tom Jolliffe
