Ninja Assassin

[GeneChing]

The one you couldn't see was real.

[GeneChing]

Ninja Assassin: When It "Rains" It Pours ... Blood by Craig Reid.

More tomorrow.

[GeneChing]

Rain on NINJA ASSASSIN

A lot of interviews have been coming out with Rain because the film opens today. Of the ones that I've read, I've noticed my interview echoes many of the previous ones. Rain had a lot of pat answers, which is to be expected since he's ESL. Nevertheless, I hope the film does well for many reasons.

Note: this week there's a sale on the Sharpened Ninja Sword and the three Ninja Master kits: Sword Master Kit, Shuriken Master Kit & Tanto Master Kit.

[GeneChing]

Critics are either celebrating it or panning it. I think it has a lot to do with the whole ninja genre, which is either very love/hate. Either you respect or mock ninjas. Obviously, as a huge martial arts film fan, I respect the genre for what it is, and that's very entertaining. It's very comic book, especially in the wake of TMNT. Even Batman became a ninja.

What's funny to me is a lot of non-martial arts people are dissing Rain for not being a hardcore martial artist. Again, this is the Wachowskis. Remember Keanu? And for the ninja purists, there's Sho. Ultimately, that's the cincher for me. Sho is back.

* November 25, 2009, 11:30 AM ET
Asian Pop Star Rain on “Ninja Assassin”: Slaying Enemies and Crooning Ballads

People die in a variety of graphically gory ways in “Ninja Assassin,” the new martial arts film starring South Korean pop star Rain and opening in theaters today. Ninjas and civilians alike are sliced open with swords and throwing stars. They’re decapitated and forced to impale themselves. One even has both hands cut off before being killed by a chained knife through the body. In other words, if you see this film, there will be blood–lots of it.

None of this seems to faze the 27-year-old Rain, who is trying to break out of his Asian pop star cocoon and cross over into Western stardom. “Yes, the film is bloody and violent, but it’s also unique,” he said of the movie, in which he stars as the revenge-seeking assassin Raizo. “Plus, my character is very sexy. My fans will love it.”

Though a musical superstar on the level of Justin Timberlake in Asia, in the United States Rain remains better known as the guy who challenged comedic talk show host Stephen Colbert to a match of “Dance Dance Revolution.” His first attempt at a Western film — playing a race car driver in the Wachowski brothers’ widely-panned “Speed Racer” adaptation — failed to find an audience, but the role did directly lead to his involvement in “Ninja Assassin.”

“Ninja Assassin” director James McTeigue (”V for Vendetta”), who shot second unit on “Speed Racer,” said he and the Wachowskis were impressed with Rain’s physicality on “Speed” and asked him to star as Raizo, the fallen killer who wants to destroy the secret Ozunu Clan that turned him into a lethal, chained knife-wielding machine. “If it’s up to determination, he will succeed,” said McTeigue. “There’s a history of Chinese actors, such as Jackie Chan and Jet Li, that crossed over, but, weirdly enough, there just hasn’t been a Korean guy. Yet.”

To prepare for the role, Rain trained for six hours a day for the six months prior to principal photography. Normally a lithe-bodied dancer, he bulked up on a “re-growth diet” and trained with a variety of weapons: chains, single and double swords and throwing stars. He also sat through a four-hour make-up session every morning to achieve a proper “beaten-up” look. (Said McTeigue, “I wanted a specific, shadowy aesthetic for the film that incorporated anime gameplay blood. I wasn’t interested in a Tarantino-esque fountain of blood spurting out of someone’s arm, but a more stylized sense of violence.”)

Is the pop star — whose acting credits include milder-titled projects like the drama series “Sang Doo! Let’s Go To School” and “I’m a Cyborg, But That’s OK” — concerned about turning off teenybopper female fans with “Ninja Assassin,” which is clearly geared toward the male gamer crowd?

“I try not to care too much about what the fans think,” Rain said. “I want to challenge myself to see where my limit is, and experiment with a lot of different films. A lot of artists from Asia focus too much on their Asian background. I don’t want to let go of my background, but to be a success in the U.S., which is my goal, I realize I need to surround myself with American filmmakers and producers.”

And will he try to segue out of singing and focus on acting? Nope, he said. “I’ve always wanted to be a singer and an actor. I will continue to concentrate on both because i love both.”

[sanjuro_ronin]

One thing that always strikes me in these movies is how the actors, with very little or no training, get in such good shape and even manage to "look" technically OK, in such a short time.
In the case of Rain, like he said, 6 months of daily training.
Not bad at all.

[Lucas]

i just read that interview Gene. Nice interview.

oh and he said 8 months, 5 days a week, 8 hours each day.

thats better than most martial artists. 8 months of that is probably equal to a couple years of your average joes 2 hour a day 3 days a week. hell maybe more than 2 years of that....

[GeneChing]

Ultimately, I wasn't overly happy with the interview. As the last interview on the tour, it was hard going. Rain was obviously tired and ready to be done. But still, it was fun to meet him. He definitely has a star quality and I wish him well.

sanjuro_ronin, don't forget, Rain is a professional dancer, so he was in great condition before he started martial arts for the films. We dis people for being dancers in the martial arts a lot, but I've always thought that was a serious oversight. Bruce Lee was a dancer. And look how Donny just pwned Liddell and Dacascos.

'Ninja Assassin': Korea's Rain storms Hollywood
G. Allen Johnson
Wednesday, November 25, 2009

He was born Jeong Ji-hoon 27 years ago, but his stage name, Rain, is perfect: He's like a force of nature as he bustles into a suite at the Ritz-Carlton earlier this week, winding up a North American press tour for his new movie, "Ninja Assassin," and on his way to perform a concert in Hong Kong.

"I (first came) to San Francisco four years ago for a commercial shoot at Golden Gate Bridge," Rain said. "The last time? Just rest. Vacation. With girl!"

Dressed in a stylishly patterned black T-shirt underneath a gray sport coat, his gelled-up hair colored an orangish brown, Rain looks like a college kid hanging out at an after-hours club. His penchant for self-promotion ("I have good talent"; "I think my character is very sexy"; "I love sexy or cute girl") is never offensive, as he delivers his lines with effortless charm.

But this is no lightweight. Rain has risen from the son of a baker to the brink of international acting stardom because of talent, yes, but also a relentless work ethic. In the past seven years, he has recorded five albums in Korean and one in Japanese and is in the planning stages of his English-language debut.

He's a CEO; two years ago, he started his own company, J. Tune Entertainment, when his previous management company encountered some legal trouble.

In films, he started as the love interest in Park Chan-wook's odd romance "I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK" and made his Hollywood debut in a supporting role in Andy and Larry Wachowski's "Speed Racer." The Wachowski brothers, famous for their "Matrix" trilogy, saw something in Rain and cast him in "Ninja Assassin," which they produced for director James McTeigue.

"I had to make my body fit like Bruce Lee," said Rain, who was determined to conduct the interview in English and rarely turned to his translator. "I trained for eight months, five days a week, eight hours a day. I only ate chicken breast and vegetables. No sugar, no salt, no chocolate.

"You know what? I really love chocolate. I'm a chocoholic. ... It was horrible!"

As a boy, Rain was captivated by Al Pacino's performance in "Scarface" and Michael Jackson's songs and videos - clearly influences in his own work. As a man, he said his guiding influence is his mother, who died when he was 18 of health issues.

"We were so poor," Rain said. "She's my hero. She's my angel. I always miss her."

That might account in part for his maturity, a trait that seems missing from many pop idol/actors of his age.

"I had a dream," Rain said. "I wanted to be a singer and actor since I was 10. My dream's come true.

But "I want to challenge myself to see where my limit is."

"Ninja Assassin" is now playing in Bay Area theaters.

The Ninja Crosses Borders: A Man Named Rain and the Return of Sho Kosugi Written by Reeling / Tito Genova Valiente / titovaliente@yahoo.com
Wednesday, 25 November 2009 18:17

BETWEEN the buffed werewolf and the vanishing vampire, there is Rain as Ninja. He may not be as divinely attractive—at least for young girls and young gays—as the citizens of the netherworld but he is deadly and deathly elegant.

The film Ninja Assassin sounds like one of those ’70s films, with a title as challenged as it is challenging in terms of literary weight. But who cares for metaphors and who cares for literature. This film tests our literacy and compels us to suspend our disbelief as we watch torture and training go hand and hand like Siamese twins of magic and magnificence. Here is a film about a camp for young boys and girls trained to endure the severest of pains so that in the future they can inflict the most potent of pains on their enemies. Or at least on people they are taught to recognize as “not friends.”

The color of the film is limited to dark and reds, with a few toxic yellows and oranges in between. Orientalism abounds at the start where we are ushered into a gang’s den. An old man is tattooing a toughie who does not pretend at all, not even for the sake of machismo, about the painful process of having a design grandly embossed on his body. The tattooer also does not pretend that he is administering a painless procedure. He, in fact, seems to push the instrument with such violence that we twitch as he communicates to his client the true meaning of pain. The gang leader, of course, does not like this and confronts the old man.

The old man is scared about the violent threat from the guy at the receiving end of the needle and ink who obviously does not relish the *****ing he is getting. This is no Tanizaki universe, where pain gives birth to beauty. This is simply badland, and the goons are helplessly bad. But the old man is given a chance to tell his story, about how years ago they came. Like the most powerful of evils, they are the “Unnameable.” Name them and they come.

Then comes the opening scene worthy of opening scenes. From the wall materialize beings whose presences are not felt until heads roll, hands swing freely off the torso, and bloods splatter the black walls. Sometimes, we see the black-hooded form. Sometimes, we see them gracefully swinging swords, but most of the time they are just shadows with the sharpness of scythes and the efficiency of death. They are killers and they are Ninja Assassins.

If you hear thundering and threatening music in your head as you read those words, “Ninja Assassins,” well, it’s only fitting. Their comeback is terribly impressive. It is as if they have not left at all. They are the Gloria Swanson/Norma Desmond of martial arts. They are camp and cute; glorious and gory. They have pedigree, and popularity the second time around is never far from sight.

When was the last time the big screen took them, the ninjas, seriously? That was a long time ago. Before the advent of Ninja Assassin, the ninjas were already in danger of being mere footnotes in history books about feudal Japan. They are not even popular choices of cosplayers (or those who have transformed costuming into discourses and fetish and fashion). But all this will change, I believe.

The ninjas are the new kids on the block. They are back. They are **** serious about themselves.

This is perhaps the secret of the impact of this film from the Wachowski Brothers. The producers are also the same guys behind The Matrix films, and that may be another secret of this film Ninja Assassin.

Those are the secrets. Then there are the revelations: Sho Kosugi, the Ninja man himself; and Rain, the Korean pop superstar.

Kosugi plays Ozuno, the head of the clan and the master of all ninjas. Kosugi is not only an actor here. His filmography is the sacred ground on which the writers—Matthew Sand and J. Michael Stracynski—tread. Listen to these titles: Enter the Ninja; Revenge of the Ninja; and Ninja III: The Domination. In fact, the first two films are known as Ninja I and II, respectively. There were even more ninja films, and Sho Kosugi is the star in all of them.

Do people still recall Enter the Ninja? Perhaps not anymore. We should remember this film: the film was shot in the Philippines, with Filipino actors like Subas Herrero and Jonee Gamboa playing supporting but important roles. The latter played a Japanese.

By the time Kosugi made Nine Deaths of the Ninja, he was bound for cultdom. By this time, people were divided into those who took ninja films seriously and almost had brain damage, and those who saw the light immediately and who decided that the only way to enjoy ninja films is, well, to enjoy them. And many did.

Sho Kosugi comes back indeed as Sho Kosugi in Ninja Assassin. There is no need to hide him behind a character. We need him as he is for gravitas as gravitas can be. The fans like him that way. He is no Bruce Lee, and that is never a problem.

The other open secret of the film is Rain. No Bruce Lee and sporting a name that can look good in Twitter and Facebook, Rain does have the Bruce Lee charm and grace in him. He has a sinewy body and those curves on his face look sharp enough to hook and unhook any heart.

If people are talking about the shirtless hunks who jump into the air to become werewolves, then people are also talking about the abs and the tight torso of Rain. That Rain can act is clear enough but that his body can deliver a performance (give and take some technical retouching that we do not know and may not be disclosed) is a discovery.

If there is gooey supernatural angst made human in New Moon, the film Ninja Assassin, for all its murderous intent, packs a lot a feeling. Strange but commendable for a film that somehow appears it just wants to enjoy itself. Go enjoy the vampires and the werewolves but, if you want fun that is more physical, watch Ninja Assassin. It does not have the baggage of Love. It has hints of Zen and sins.

[Hebrew Hammer]

Overall ok, I was hoping for better based on the previews I had seen, the action sequences and fight scenes are pretty solid, would have liked to see more slow motion shots...the weapon play was off the chart.

That being said, the acting was pretty bad, I know its a Ninja Movie but they could have done better with the story line. Hopefully there will be more to come....

[Lucas]

saw it at noon yesterday. i liked it. ya the acting could have been better, but it wasnt so horrible. its kind of what you might expect from a ninja movie.

You can see Ninja Scroll all over this one. Hell at one point you see a Ninja Scroll lol. I loved the Ninpo influence. The shadow abilities lent the movie a horror feel. Similar to ALIENS when they are crawling out of the shadows.

Sho Kosugi pwnd his role. hard. the last fight between raizo and his master was awesome. Im of the opinion actually that Sho may have been the best performance in the movie, next to Rain of course.

the opening scene was cool. the only thing that kind of irked me was the sub par yakuza reference with the weak ass tats. they could have just been some stupid american street gang trying to act like yakuza, but that reference wasnt made too clear. it could have been being hinted at by the fact that the gang leader was a sissy and couldnt take the pain...but it just, to me, seemed like a weak attempt to appear as standard yakuza being hit by ninja....

over all i really liked the movie though, and am looking forward to the first sequel.

[Lucas]

oh ya and i think they should have pluralized the title to indicate all the ninja assassins or made it something like 'Ninja Rage', cuz in the movie Raizo isnt an assassin. He quits after his first kill. Ya he gets revenge.

but the title Revenge of the Ninja is taken.... lol

NINJA RAGE was what i saw in that movie.

[Lucas]

maybe this is just me but that scene in the warehouse with all the swat and the massive ninja slaughter made me want to see

Predator VS. Ninja

[Zenshiite]

You know... they really need to make a Ninja Gaiden flick. Seriously. Those games have always been very very cinematic and there's a ton that could be done with it.

I want Ninja Gaiden! I want Hayabusa Ryu!

[ghostexorcist]

Just came back from the 12:00 pm showing of the movie here in Cincinnati. Overall, it was better than I expected, but it was still your average dice 'em up movie. Every time someone got cut in half or a river of blood spurt from some guy's throat, I couldn't help but think of the last two Zatoichi movies.

I will say that I found the brief reference to the Tangerian traveler Ibn Battuta very interesting. Most people don't even know who he is. He is the most prolific traveler in history, even more so than Marco Polo. Over the course of 29 years, he traveled to just about every known country between Northern Africa to China and back again. A total of some 75,000 miles. I have his 6 volume travel journal. Although the location of the temple is never mentioned, it's obviously in some Asian country. Since Ibn Battuta never traveled any further east than China, it's safe to assume the Ninja training ground is there (a weird location for a Japanese master of ninjitsu to be training children I must say). Despite his journal mentioning martially inclined people, I think the bit about him traveling to the temple was the creation of the script writer. Ibn Battuta spent most of his time in the Muslim quarter in southern China because he thought Chinese food was disgusting and the women were ugly. That says a lot since he was married 10 times and porked numerous women around the globe.

[Hebrew Hammer]

You know... they really need to make a Ninja Gaiden flick. Seriously. Those games have always been very very cinematic and there's a ton that could be done with it.

I want Ninja Gaiden! I want Hayabusa Ryu!

Agreed! In fact I was watching '300' last night (which also had great fight scenes and CGI) and wished Ninja Assassin could have been more along those lines...in terms of story and dialogue.

[BoulderDawg]

Movie was a peice of crap.

Story made no sense at all. A group of ninja live in some sort of secluded mountain retreat where they trained orphans to be hired killers......

To start with I didn't see where these people had much use for the money they made as hitmen.