First off, do you like Alien? Do you like Ninja? Do you like crazy fight? Do you like lots of blood? If you answered yes to any of the following then this movie may be right up your alley but be forewarned, it is much better to see this movie with a group of people that are just as sick in the head as you are if you plan on maximizing your crazy experience that is ALIEN VS. NINJA!
When one attends the world premiere of a movie likeAlien vs. Ninja, you know no one else in the world is going to have the same type of movie going experience as you and that particular audience. Not only was this the world premier of the film (yes it hasn’t even been released in Japan yet) but, but it was also the official launch of Sushi Typhoon, the new distribution company for North America now responsible for bringing us new films from directors like Takeshi Miike, Yoshihiro Nishimura, Sion Sono, Tak Sakaguchi, and Noboru Iguchi. What also helped this launch was having the brainchild of this crazy concoction there, producer Yoshinori Chiba, as well as directors Noboru Iguchi and Yoshihiro Nishimura running out in diapers to help launch this initiative. The last great part of this launch was having the main star of Alien vs. Ninja dressed as a ninja, being a ninja, and spreading his ninja ways to the audience before we actually watched his movie. I’m talking about the upcoming Japanese action star Masanori Mimoto. I will be posting a video of the entire launch in addition to the Q & A in a day or two.
So now that you have an idea of what kind of experience I had, let me get down to the review of this cult film.
The movie is about a band of ninjas, called the Iga, who are coming back from a mission and happen to see a giant fire ball crashing to earth. As they go to investigate, the group is attacked by a new enemy, an “alien from the stars,” and only a few are left to survive resulting in a serious change in tactics. The alien is indestructible except for one thing, it forgot to make itself ninja proof. The rest of the movie involves crazy encounters with the Alien, then more aliens, then zombie ninjas and finally a climatic and hilarious battle between our main character, the unbeatable ninja that is Masanori Mimoto, and the Alien.
Alien vs. Ninja is for those who don’t mind the way over the top, excessively bloody, rubber suit aliens, fight scenes mixed with the sexual perversion of the Japanese mind, and hysterical Asian humor. Also, if you like Ninjas then you really have no choice, you must watch this movie! But let me prepare you with an idea of what to expect because god knows it is almost impossible to spoil this movie. First off, you could call this movie a mix between Ninja Assassin, Predator, and any of the Alien movies and let me explain how that’s possible. You have the crazy ninja fights coupled with the lighting fast movements of a ninja (Ninja Assassin), then you have one main alien attacking a group of warriors (predators), and finally this Alien spreads it seed by planting a baby inside of you, kind of like the facehugger without the facehugging in Aliens. To give you an idea about the fighting style of the Alien, he battled by extending his tale to slash people, used his claws to slash faces, turning into a ball like sonic the hedgehog and rolling across the room like Blanka from street fighter, curb stomping punk ass ninjas, and then occasionally channeling an American boxer. If you can imagine all of the above and more then you know this flick is worth a watch.
As far as the filmmaking goes, I think Seiji Chiba (Death Trance) did a great job penning the script and directing this sci-fi action comedy. One of the brilliant things he did was borrow some ideas from western action films and fuseed them into both the ninjas’ dialogue and the alien’s fighting. Seiji was also able to get the actors to be good enough to pull off their respective roles in a serious way but then was able to have them act badly enough when the script called for its comedic punches. Much of this happened during fights when a character would be battling and then would have a quick break in which he/she would throw out a witty one liner or needed to adjust their hair. It was Chiba’s comedic timing that put this movie over the top and made it the hysterical film that it was. As for the fighting, action director Yuji Shimomura orchestrated some terrific fight scenes that blended both the perverse mind of a Japanese school boy with the spirit and furor of an ancient ninja warrior. Lastly, Masanori Mimoto, Shuji Kashiwabara, Donpei Tsuchihira, Mika Hiji, Yuki Ogoe and Ben Hiura all acted wonderfully in what could be one of their craziest movie making experiences of their lives.
Although this type of movie is definitely not for everyone, I highly suggest giving it a whirl with a group of friends if you have the opportunity to watch it. Alien vs. Ninja is a fun and wild ride that will make you laugh at its ridiculous nature, cringe at its gore, and, at times, cause you to question your mental state of mind. Let’s face it, you’re not going to see this movie for its plot so don’t bother even trying to judge or rate this movie. If you like Ninja you must see this, if you like Alien you must see this, if you want to see an epic battle that could destroy planets, then you may explode when you actually do see this.
Rating: Alien vs. Ninja! Just let your imagination run wild on that title
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