Ninja II [Blu-ray] [US Import]

The last time martial arts king Scott Adkins and action filmmaker extraordinaire Isaac Florentine worked together, their output was fantastic. Undisputed III: Redemption was one of the best fight flicks ever made and remains the high standard for other karate movies to strive for. In the three years since, Adkins has continued to make a name for himself both inside and out of movie theaters, while Florentine hit a bit of a low point with his Christian Slater vehicle, but fans have unanimously wondered what sort of film the two of them would deliver if paired together again. Would it top the previous "Undisputed"? Well, now that ol' Scott and Isaac have finally produced their fifth collaboration, I can answer that question...somewhat sadly, in the negative. No, in my opinion, "Ninja II: Shadow of a Tear" is not the equal of "U3." It is, however, a vast improvement over its flawed prequel and is without a doubt the best pure martial arts movie of 2013.

The story: upon the murder of his beloved Namiko (Mika Hiji), the returning Casey (Adkins) attempts to track down her killer - a quest which leads him into the dangerous urban sprawl and deadly jungles of Myanmar.

I think this is the kind of movie Florentine was trying to make the first time around, when he made Ninja. Improvements on the production values and the general presentation of the ninja (no more ridiculously impossible physical feats) are superficial plusses to a generally more down-to-earth movie: the villains and rivalries feel more personal this time, and the shifting environmental settings make for a more interesting aesthetic presentation. With that said, the major flaws plaguing the movie are still production-related and creative ones. The automatic subtitles are slightly off, unnecessarily announcing "Myanmar (formerly Burma)" twice and in at least one situation unnecessarily announcing what a character is saying even though it's in English. Additionally, for a movie with the word "ninja" in its title, there is disappointingly little ninja-ing: Scott's the only real representative of the shadow warriors this time around, and doesn't suit up until the final 25 minutes. Subjectively, I also question the cultural sensitivity behind casting Indian actor Mukesh Bhatt (Rocket Singh): I love his performance, but laughing at him playing a goofy, subservient taxi driver in an American movie is kind of uncomfortable.

The fight content so ample that it's a genuine surprise whenever Adkins' character *doesn't* resolve a situation by fighting. It's also, for the most part, top-notch. While I don't think it's the blow-for-blow equal of "U3," a friend of mine might comment that the filmmakers definitely took notes while watching The Raid: Redemption. There's so much going on here that I like. Virtually every fight features satisfyingly long shots, filled with lengthier technical exchanges than in a Shaw Bros. movie. While the one-against-many brawls are unanimously one-sided, none of the one-on-one encounters - comprising about half of the total fight scenes - are squash matches. There's a cool variety of fighters, too: Guinness record-setting kicker Ron Smoorenburg, karate-parkour star Jawel el Berni, Raging Phoenix-veteran Patrick Tang, and that second generation ninja himself, Kane Kosugi (Blood Heat). Choreographer and onscreen fighter Tim Man (Kill Em All) exercises his craft fully by accurately portraying kickboxing, defensive karate, kobudo- and kali-style weapons fighting, some grappling, and a smattering of Adkins' signature tricking. Viewers who particularly love Scott's backflips and flying moves may be disappointed that they're a bit toned down here, but personally, I can't get enough of the grounded hand-to-hand stuff, particularly the five-star final match. Florentine's record for this kind of action remains unblemished.

Dramatically, the movie is on the upper end of average for the DTV sphere. Adkins remains more than serviceable throughout, though his reaction to finding Mika Hiji's character dead was a bit weak. Kane Kosugi is solid, though he cycles between how strong his accent should be. The surprise standout performance comes from aging villain Shun Sugata (Ichi the Killer), whose only fault is that he doesn't have more scenes to show off his theatrical talent (seriously, I think he only has about three). Writer David White, one of Florentine's regulars, doesn't deliver any particularly memorable dialogue but deserves credit for a surprising twist at the end of the story. The movie ends on an uncharacteristically bitter note for Florentine, though I get the impression that this was done potentially so the protagonist may yet find closure in a potential third film.

Should an additional instalment of the franchise be on its way, I'd line up now to see it. In setting the standard so ridiculously high, both the star and the filmmaker may struggle to live up to their previous masterwork, but it's reassuring that Adkins and Florentine give the impression that they're all for making a great effort towards it. I can't think of any reason not to recommend buying this movie, so go for it.

I got to see an early screening of this film a month ago. Ninja II is ridiculously action packed. Scott Adkins is a BEAST. I love the way it was shot, edited & directed. The action was so clean from all of the amazing performers and the way that it was shot really allows you to see all of the technique and planning that was put into the choreography. None of that "Hollywood Shaky-Cam" stuff here.

If you're looking for a great Ninja/MartialArts/Action flick - this is without a doubt, it.

Ninja (2009) was VERY entertaining but VERY flawed. This sequel strongly sets right and continues the franchise with crisper and more brutal fights, a better story and none of the nonsense--clearly opening the door to a most welcome third installment.

Director Isaac Florentine (Undisputed II & III, Ninja) understandably likes working with (Scott Adkins; El Gringo, Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning, The Expendables 2, Assassination Games). I get it. Adkins is amazing and if I were directing martial arts movies he'd be my top pick, too…EVERY TIME!

But Adkins' performances are easily limited by Florentine's vision that day. Undisputed II (2006) featured some of the best fight choreography you can find and it was filmed with appropriate angles and for long enough time between cuts for viewers to really appreciate the techniques being executed and their difficulty. It also had a simple, enjoyable (even if recycled) story. Whereas Undisputed III (2010) suffered a drop in that quality in terms of both story and spin kicks for reasons I can't explain, and Ninja (2009)--however cool the movie was without the fights--failed to impress me with the martial arts…and I'm pretty sure that was the one thing (if only one thing) that should have wowed me.

In this sequel Casey Bowman leaves runs to the store when his fiancée has midnight cravings for chocolate and seaweed--we can assume she has the Japanese preggers munchies. This all sounds very sweet, but you can't have a good ninja movie without a solid motive for revenge, can you? So when he returns home to find her dead, no one is surprised.

The opening combat sequence struck me as technically sound with crisp, impressive combinations. However, Adkins' fight scenes seem largely limited by the skill of his stunt man opponents who (in a few scenes) can't nearly keep up, appearing to fight rigidly (i.e., being less comfortable with the choreography) compared to Adkins' deftly smooth counterstrikes so trained fighters and fight stunt snobs will pick at the weaker fight's flaws like piranhas on a floating carcass. This minor flaw was most apparent in a scene reminiscent of Jet Li's opening scene in Fist of Legend (1994), when Scott takes on a dojo of opponents. But fear not. This flaw was a one-fight fluke and the other fights remain enjoyably awesome. Adkins fans will rejoice when seeing him deliver some of his trademark 540 check kicks, beautiful transitions when performing jump spin kick and sweep combinations, and stunning corkscrew flairs that would make Ray Parks' own Darth Maul green with envy. You'll even notice moves and stunts that will smack of Jackie Chan, but with none of Chan's humor and all Adkins' elegant brutality. And watch out for the "hotel room" fight scene. I haven't seen such a brilliantly unique gun-disarm/counterstrike since Equilibrium (2002) and The Raid: Redemption (2011).

The fights all find fury and brutality. Spin kicks often serve as little more than "filler" in martial arts movies. But when Scott Adkins throws spin kicks his body weight whips like a Devil-possessed trebuchet to our rejoice.

Casey is unfocused and angry in this sequel, clearly preoccupied with revenge. When he travels to Thailand to escape his grief, he is followed by the vengeance of an old enemy of his dojo; the same enemy that killed his fiancée. Casey travels to Myanmar to find Goro (Shun Sugata; Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2, Ichi the Killer, The Last Samurai), a Burmese drug lord and the man who wronged him.
Tim Man (Kill'em All, Raging Phoenix) plays Goro's right hand man and give us a fantastic, long, vicious fight scene with Adkins. The much shorter (yet sufficient) fight between Adkins' Casey and the aging but deadly Goro was also satisfying with a dash of unique flavor.

The movie most clearly ends with a bitter end-- opening the door to a third installment in which Casey Bowman may finally find peace--and some fantastic swordplay.

This film, despite wanting to be like the simplistic martial arts film of the classic age, is shockingly deep, heart-wrenching and full of just as much emotional tension as there is action scenes.

The story follows young Casey Bowman(Scott Adkins); a star-pupil Ninja who recently got married to his dojo cohort. But as he was out and about one night, his pregnant wife was murdered in cold blood. Rumor has it that she was killed by a Drug Cartel leader named Goro. The film follows his adventure to get revenge(or as he calls it, "justice") for the death of his wife and soon-to-be child.

Being filled with many twists and turns throughout, this is one roller-coaster ride you can't afford to miss out on.

And you don't really need to see the first one in order to get the second. The first is just a little bit of backstory on Casey Bowman and his not-yet-wife. Any fan of martial arts films will love this movie, and is sure to become an instant classic.

In the grand tradition of sequels, not as good as the 1st...great action scenes, none of that CGI, BLAIR WITCH PROJJECT shaky camera B.S. like most high budget films like I see in the TRANSFORMERS or Nolan's BATMAN Trilogy. I was just upset, because we don't really see much of Scott in full ninja garb, like most movies of this caliber the hero always manages to get into fights with random guys looking to mug him...I thought the end fight scene in the 1st one where he's decked out in his Ninja outfit was wicked great...like those ninja movies from the 80's the ninja's almost like a superhero, and not someone who reminds of those old jokes like, "A guy walks into a bar, and suddenly every drunk in the room wants to throw down..."