I went to my local Blockbuster one day and as I scanned the New Release wall for something great to watch I noticed a DVD box (actually about 16 copies of them) with a figure on the cover clad in armor and shadow. The film was simply titled Ninja and my first instinct warned me that this was probably a B-movie knockoff of Ninja Assassin (2009). I was still intrigued so instead of renting Ninja that day I put it in my Netflix queue for a later viewing date.

Ninja arrived and I picked a dark and stormy night to watch it. I expected a 90 minute cheese-fest with bland acting, limp action and mediocre special effects that would severely pale in comparison to the bigger budgeted Ninja Assassin. Much to my surprise and delight I am pleased to tell you that watching Ninja was the highlight of my evening. I was so jazzed by it that I’m going to tell everyone how cool Ninja was in the hopes that more and more people see it and give it the recognition it deserves.

The plot of Ninja Assassin revolved around a legendary martial arts dojo and Ninja shares that foundation as well. The film opens at a Japanese dojo where Sensei (Togo Igawa) trains men and women in the fine arts of stealth, weapons mastery and hand-to-hand combat. The training instills honor, dedication and loyalty in his students but one in particular decides to attend the extra credit course in “arrogance”. Masazuka (Tsuyoshi Ihara) believes that he should be the next in line as dojo master and sees fellow student, Casey (Scott Adkins), as his rival. The two have a sparring match one day and Masazuka goes feral and attempts to kill Casey but Sensei stops the battle and expels Masazuka from the dojo.

Several years pass and Masazuka decides it is time to claim the title that he strongly believes is rightfully his. In order to do this he must obtain the sacred treasure of the dojo, the Yoroi Bitsu. Sensei enlists his daughter, Namiko (Mika Hijii), and Casey with the task of hiding the treasure away from the power-hungry ninja. But Masazuka has learned much and made many friends in low places during his exile that will help him achieve his long awaited goal.

Every once in awhile I’ll find a straight-to-dvd film that is so high quality that I am baffled as to why it wasn’t released in theaters and Ninja is one of those films. The plot is unfurled on a semi-epic scale with the action taking place in Japan and then in New York City. Boaz Davidson, Michael Hurst (apparently not the same Michael Hurst that played Iolaus in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys series) and Zaki Rubenstein packed some quality stuff into this screenplay. Along with the main mission to keep the Yoroi Bitsu away from Masazuka the film also takes time to dwell on Casey’s fractured family issue, Masazuka’s frustration with not being favored by Sensei and the involvement of a secret corporate espionage group known as “The Ring”. I also liked the way they handled the unrequited love between Casey and Namiko. There is a way to do that in a story without it becoming too cutesy or annoying and Ninja accomplished that.

The action is gorgeous. I do declare that I was getting kinda misty eyed with the superb choreography presented in Ninja. The fight scenes are fast and furious but there’s a grace to it and an attention to the martial arts aesthetic that a lot of mainstream films missed. I dare say that the action sequences in Ninja were actually a step above what was done in Ninja Assassin. Watching Ninja made me think about some of my favorite classic brawler movies like Mortal Kombat (1995), Five Deadly Venoms (1978) and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2003).

The one-on-one fights between Casey and Masazuka are intense because the tension between them is so palpable and I was more worried for Casey because I knew Masazuka would have no qualms about cheating. Actually, Masazuka gets the upper hand a lot. I love when the bad guy isn’t all talk and truly has the skills that qualify him as an official powerhouse.

Oh, but then you get The Ring thugs involved and that leads to some outrageously breathtaking group skirmishes. Casey and Namiko get the workout of their lives as the The Ring churns out a seemingly infinite amount of punks to smack them down. And yet I never got tired from it. In fact, I wanted more of those beautiful grapples, kicks and choke holds.

Another thing that surprised me about Ninja was the gore factor. I expected to see people get stabbed but I didn’t expect such an ample amount of blood spattering. Like Ninja Assassin this film also uses CG gore alongside the actual red syrup to enhance the fatalities in the fight scenes. And yet again it seems that Ninja just does it a little bit better.

Sadly, there were no special features for the Ninja DVD nor are there any for the Blu-Ray edition. It would’ve been nice to at least have a featurette about the stunts but no. A director and/or writer’s commentary would also have been pleasant. I would’ve liked to hear the story behind the origin of the film and some factoids about some of those crazy stunt scenes like the fight that takes place on the subway.

In case you couldn’t tell I am tickled all kinds of pink about Ninja. This is one of those action flicks that I want to have a party for. I want to pass the DVD to my friends so they, too, can bask in the glow in their own time. Ninja has incredible action sequences coupled with a solid and enriched plot. If you happen to see Ninja on the shelf at your local video store do not walk on by. Mazazuka doesn’t like to be ignored, lol.

Rhymes With: Ninja Assassin (2009), Mortal Kombat (1995), Kill Bill (2003), Five Deadly Venoms (1978), Iron Monkey (1993), Blade II (2002)