Well, once again it happend that I walked through one of the stores and picked a nice dvd to watch – and a few hours later I had seen the movie… This time it was “Shinobi” – and while I saw it in imdb with 7 out of 10 points I think for a rating that high, it was a little disappointing.
First of all, I am into martial arts, I’ve quite some experience myself and I think the histories, traditions, myths and arts from the far eastern region are more than just interesting. And I like good martial art videos – for me Fearless was one of them with quite interesting choreographies and a believable storyline.
Shinobi was different, first of all it used common schemes – the love of two young adolescents from two rivalizing clans. The confrontation of the two clans and finally the showdown ( I have to keep myself from spoiling important parts of the movie here) – but Shinobi was quite interesting in other aspects. I would say it’s 60% fantasy, and quite a lot of Mortal Kombat put into this. A confrontation where some fighters have outworldly, unmatched skills. The movie puts them into a special light – especially in the end and shows the human, touching side of the confrontation. Well in my eyes that could be done better. It relies too much on the self-abandonment of a character – too much on forcing emotions into the viewer.
Definitely a recommendation only for lovers of both fantasy and martial arts combined in one movie. Interesting to watch for those who liked Films like Mortal Kombat.
I would give it 6 out of 10 bleeding eyes (and you need to see the movie to understand that rating) – 5 of them for the movie itself and one special point for awesome pictures and environment. It is quite a pick if you loved Hero for the pictures and it is really showing outstanding shots of nature’s best side.
mmm…sounds cool 😛 I’m not that into fantasy anymore, but im sure i go watch this movie once!