Film Review: Alien vs. Ninjas (2010)

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SYNOPSIS:

Once upon a time in Japan, there was a band of great Iga Ninja warriors, led by Yamata. One day, they witness a flash in the sky, and a roaring giant ball of fire crashing into the distant forest. The warriors rush into the deep woods in an attempt to identify the mysterious fireball. There, betraying their expectations, they are stunned to find new enemies. Never-seen-before creatures with claws and fangs; ALIENS! The hungry brutal aliens starts to savage and feast on the Ninja warriors, leaving only few to survive. Yamata and his warriors swear to avenge their comrades’ deaths, risking their lives to challenge the aliens. However, none of their Ninja weapons, neither the swords nor the throwing stars, have any affect on the aliens. Now, the Japanese greatest Iga Ninja face the biggest challenge ever!

REVIEW:

 

Starring:
Mika Hijii
Ben Hiura
Shûji Kashiwabara
Masanori Mimoto
Yûki Ogoe
Donpei Tsuchihira

Director Seiji Chiba brings us a horror comedic battle film that pits the talents of a local group of ninjas vs alien invader swho have  not come in the name of peace. All is pretty quiet within the town as the local ninjas scour the perimeters for invading clans and enemy intruders. It’s a pretty common selective of the 2 cool ninja leading their pack as there derelict sidekicks spend more time running than they do fighting battles. But in all the moves are fast, slick and done with that classic sense of un believability we have come to know within Asian cinema.

Things start to perk up when a fire in the sky comes crashing down in  nearby forest. The ninjas don’t think to much of it as they group up and try and check things out. But when they start dropping like flies, being sucked into holes, skinned alive, dismembered and ripped apart with odd looking tentacles, the bar is suddenly raised. It’s probably a good thing as I was starting to get bored with their bickering, claims of superiority and waiting about. This creature which seems to move within the trees with the same speed of the ninjas…aka CGI zipping from tree to tree…has got some pretty nasty kill routines up i’ts sleeve which turns the film action quickly to 10. It doesn’t get much points for original creature makeup as it falls somewhere between a land of the Lost sleetstack and a raptor but what keeps things entertaining is the absurd ways it takes out bodies left and right with parts flying about like a chicken in a blender.

Films of this nature are exactly what you signed up for. That is lots of carnage, blood ad weird Asian tentacle kill tactics. Can the ninjas outsmart the aliens….can the warriors save the village or is the planet doomed by these new invaders? Masanori Mimoto stars as Yamata who is the best of the ninjas. He supplies a rpund of fancy moves which is enhanced by some sped up CGI work. When Alien VS. Ninjas gets going, it’s a crazy martial arts ride that delivers on its zany premise. Zombie controlled ninjas, tiny rubber alien squish toy parasites, aliens that can regenerate their parts and somehow posses kung fu skills to boot. Theer are plenty of comedic overtones that go hand in hand with the gore displays making this a pretty wacky battle to the death standoff. If you like seeing intestines thrown around like rope, faces flying, heads tossed around, and bodies gutted out by alien razor tails your in the right place.

FX work was handled by Sôichi Umezawa who has done a few previous titles but is generally new to the Asian Tokyo gore rosters. It’s the director’s editing work that pulls the film all together.  This film is one of the new offerings from Asian filmmakers “Sushi typhoon“. We are expecting alot for these guys, so keep you eyes and ears open for new arrivals. the first film might fall beneath the theatrics we are used to seeing in “Tokyo Gore Police” but none the less it still provides some solid entertainment moments. Mika Hijii who plays Rinn in the movie is one hot lady with moves to boot. This films packs a powerhouse and has alot of fun doing it.

Alien vs. Ninjas (2010)