Scott Adkins has made many strong contributions to the English language martial arts action hero movie industry, and Ninja (2009) is easily one of his best. This movie sees the main character grow up in a Ninja school in Japan, competing with his ninja brother to inherit the position of Soke (master) of the school. The main antagonist, upon being disrespectful and outcast by the old master, then kills the him and everyone found in the school that night, while hunting down the old master’s daughter who fled to America with the movie’s main hero to hide and protect the sacred armour & weapons that have been kept by the school for hundreds of years. American police obviously get involved, as does an organised crime syndicate, but they aren’t able to do much against the talented ninjas. With a likeable lead man & woman, and credible moves, equipment, bad guys, cops, and good busyness from start to finish, this movie is just one or two levels shy of the best martial arts action hero movies ever made, in my opinion.
The main cast members giving decent performances include: Scott Adkins as the main star (called Casey Bowman in the movie); Mika Hijii the lead female (called Namiko Takeda); Tsuyoshi Ihara the main antagonist (called Masazuka), and Togo Igawa the teacher of the clan (called Sensei Takeda) who gets killed by his outcast student Masazuka about a third of the way into the movie.
This movie has a bit too much blood & guts spilling around early on – not as much as in Ninja Assassin of the same year, but still a bit too much for my taste – that kind of thing messes with the mind of the viewer. This movie has many similarities with Ninja Assassin, right up to the ending where the art of quick movement & disappearance is displayed alongside the art of sensing the location of the quick mover. Maybe it’s some kind of competition who can do best with the same kind of script on a given year, a bit like how there were two Hercules movies in 2014 – the one with The Rock, and the one with Kellan Lutz (where Scott Adkins played a supporting role) – both good movies in both cases.
Ninja (2009) has a very tasty plot development after half way through the movie, when the police arrest Casey and Namiko, then Masazuka hunts them inside the station.
The action and drama is quite continuous and exciting from start to finish. Minimal boring patches. The mood setting is of variable quality throughout – it could sometimes be a lot better with the help of better sound effects and more finessed screenplay. Scott has a bit of a “girl next door” vibe, as do the other main characters here, but they still all do a decent job.
When Scott tries to look intense, he overcooks the external expressions, because it’s just not his true character. This is what makes Van Damme and Seagal movies so good – they genuinely believe they are hotshots in real life, so it’s not even acting, it’s their real character shining through. In this way, Scott Adkins is like the polar opposite of Denzel Washington, because Denzel has a confident penetrative gaze without trying too hard, but has minimal athleticism and zero real physical martial arts acumen, while Scott is a supreme athlete and a top level martial arts trickster but over-cooks his serious gaze to the point he’s almost gurning. He’s like a promoted stuntman. But neither of them are deeply equipped with practical, subtle self-defence skills. Guys like Steven Seagal, Jackie Chan and Jean-Claude Van Damme would probably wipe the floor with Scott Adkins in a real fight, and a prime Bruce Lee would probably wipe the floor with all of them simultaneously. Still, Scott does better aerial tricks than all of them, and can probably handle himself comfortably against the average man.
The Sequel
If you enjoyed Ninja (2009) don’t miss its sequel – Ninja II: Shadow Of A Tear (2013) – also starring Scott Adkins. It doesn’t strictly follow the same storyline with all its features, but has a fairly similar feel and is roughly the same quality of movie, with its own fresh plot.
See also, The Art Of Action
Don’t miss Scott’s podcast series called The Art Of Action on his own YouTube channel, where he’s done some phenomenal interviews with superstars like Keanu Reeves and Steven Seagal, as well as lesser known legends like Kurt McKinney from No Retreat, No Surrender. Since he’s essentially one of them, Scott commands far more respect than the average interviewer and is able to extract some incredible stories and information never heard before.