ninja

موضوع: ninja الخميس أغسطس 19, 2010 9:39 pm

ja Assassin is a 2009 American martial arts film directed by James McTeigue. The story was written by Matthew Sand, with a screenplay penned by J. Michael Straczynski. The film stars South Korean pop sensation Rain as a disillusioned assassin looking for retribution against his former mentor. Ninja Assassin explores political corruption, child endangerment and the impact of violence. Renowned for their previous work with the Matrix Trilogy and V for Vendetta, the Wachowski brothers in collaboration with Joel Silver and Grant Hill produced the film. A joint collective effort to commit to the film's production was made by Legendary Pictures,Dark Castle Entertainment and Silver Pictures. It was commercially distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures.

Ninja Assassin
premiered in theaters nationwide in the United States on November 25,
2009 grossing $38,122,883 in domestic ticket receipts. The film earned
an additional $23,467,369 in business through international release to
top out at a combined $61,590,252 in gross revenue. Considering its $40
million budget, the film was technically considered a moderate financial
success after its theatrical run. The film was met with generally
negative critical reviews before its initial screening in cinemas.

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[edit]Plot

Raizo (Rain) is raised by the Ozunu Clan to become the most lethal Ninja assassin in the world. As a child, Raizo being an orphan is taking by Lord Ozuno (Sho Kosugi) and is enrolled in severe brutal training. The only generosity he ever receives is from a kunoichi
named Kiriko (Kylie Goldstein), with whom he develops a romantic bond.
However, as time goes on, Kiriko becomes disenchanted with the Clan's
routine, and wishes to abandon it for freedom. One rainy night, Kiriko
decides to make her escape and encourages Raizo to join her; but he
decides to stay. Branded as a traitor, Kiriko is caught and later
executed in front of Raizo by her elder ninja brother Takeshi (Rick Yune). As a result of Kiriko's death, Raizo begins to harbor resentment and doubt towards the Clan.

After
completing his first assassination, Raizo meets the rest of his Clan
atop a city skyscraper in Berlin. There he is instructed by Lord Ozunu
to execute another kunoichi traitor like Kiriko. He rebels against Lord
Ozunu by cutting his face with a kyoketsu Shoge, and engages in combat
against his fellow ninja kin. Barely surviving, he falls over the edge
of the skyscraper and into a nearby pool. Raizo recovers and begins to
intervene and foil subsequent Ozunu assassination attempts. Meanwhile, Europol agent Mika Coretti (Naomie Harris)
has been investigating money-linked political murders, and finds out
that they are possibly connected to the Clan. She defies her superior,
Ryan Maslow (Ben Miles), and retrieves secret agency files to find out more about the investigation.

Mika
meets Raizo and convinces him to see Maslow for protection as well as
to provide evidence against the Clan. But Raizo is later set-up by
Maslow, and abducted by agents from Europol for interrogation. Although
feeling betrayed, Mika is assured by Maslow that he is still on her side
and gives her a tracking device for emergencies. The Ozunu ninjas
infiltrate the Europol headquarters in an attempt to kill Raizo and
everybody inside. Mika frees Raizo and they both manage to escape, but
Raizo suffers near mortal wounds. Mika then takes him to a hotel.
Resting in a motel, Mika implants the tracking device into Raizo, as the
ninjas remain in pursuit. Unable to fend against the Clan, she hides
outside the motel until Special Forces arrive to help her. By the time
they arrive though, the ninjas have already kidnapped Raizo, bringing
him before Lord Ozunu for prosecution.

Europol special forces and
tactical teams led by Maslow storm the secluded Ozunu retreat nestled
in the mountains using the tracking device on Raizo. Raizo and Lord
Ozunu confront each other in a sword duel. Mika interferes to help, but
is stabbed by Lord Ozunu. Enraged, Raizo uses a 'shadow blending'
technique for the first time to distract and kill Lord Ozunu. Mika,
seemingly fatally wounded, is in fact saved by a quirk of birth-–her
heart is actually on the opposite side of her chest.
Raizo later climbs the same wall Kiriko did while trying to escape in
the past, and looks out at the surrounding countryside. He then
recognizes his freedom for the first time.
[edit]Production

[edit]Filming

Ninja Assassin was directed by James McTeigue, and produced by Joel Silver and the Wachowski brothers.^[2] The project was inspired by the ninja scenes featured in the Wachowskis' 2008 film Speed Racer, in which the actor Rain had impressed the Wachowskis with his portrayal as a fighter.^[3] The Wachowskis were dissatisfied with the original script, and hired J. Michael Straczynski to write a new draft for the film six weeks before it began production.^[4]

"One
day I got a call from the Wachowski Brothers, who are friends of mine.
And they said we need some help on something, can you meet us tomorrow
and talk about something. I met with them and they had a draft for this
movie called Ninja Assassin which wasn't where they wanted it to be. And
they said we need a whole new draft, a whole new script, and we go to
camera in six weeks. And I said, "Okay, when do you have to have the
scripts?" And they said it had to go out to actors that Friday. So I
went home and put on a pot of coffee, and I wrote essentially a whole
new script in 53 hours."

—J. Michael Straczynski, writer

Filming
began in Berlin, Germany at the end of April 2008. Medienboard
Berlin-Brandenburg provided filmmakers US$1 million in funding,^[5] and Germany's Federal Film Fund provided an additional US$9 million to the film's funding.^[6]Filming took place in Babelsberg Studios and on location throughout Berlin.^[7]

McTeigue cited various influences in filming Ninja Assassinsuch as the films Panic in the Streets (1950), The Getaway(1972), Badlands (1973), Ninja Scroll (1993), and the animeSamurai Champloo (2004–2005).^[8] Actor Collin Chou was originally cast for an undisclosed lead role after Jet Li turned down an offer,^[9] but Chou later left the role.^[10]
[edit]Marketing

[edit]Video game

On November, 5, 2009, Apple released the video game application based on the film for the iPhone.^[11]
[edit]Release

[edit]Critical response

The film generally received negative reviews. Rotten Tomatoes reported that 25% of 106 sampled critics gave the film positive reviews and that it got a rating average of 4.3 out of 10.^[12] At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 34 based on 20 reviews.^[13] While critics generally panned the film as a melange of gore scenes without a convincing plot,^[12] some critics commended the film's numerous action scenes. Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicledescribed the film as "a gorefest, a borefest and a snorefest."^[14] Joe Williams of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
opined that "this amateurish action flick is so lacking in personality
or punch, it ought to be titled 'V for Video Store Discount Bin.'"^[15]

Entertainment Weekly's Chris Nashawaty wrote "...this slick slice of martial-arts mayhem from the producers of The Matrix
is awash in blood. It spurts and sprays in geysers. And it never lets
up. There's a brutal (and admittedly very cool) fight scene every five
minutes... But let's be honest, killing is this film's business...and
business is good."^[16]
[edit]Box office

Ninja Assassin
opened at #6 at the North American box office earning $13,316,158 in
its first opening weekend. The film grossed $38,122,883 in North America
and $22,339,464 in other territories, totaling $60,462,347 worldwide.
In Japan, this film opened on the 6th of March 2010 in only one movie
theater in Shinjuku and then also opened on the 20th of March in Osaka.^[17] Ninja Assassin earned 2,214,000 yen during its first opening weekend in Shinjuku.^[18]
[edit]Home media

Ninja Assassin was released on DVD and Blu-ray disc formats on March 16th, 2010.^[19]
[edit]Awards

On June 9th, 2010, Rain was awarded the "Biggest Badass" award on the MTV Movie Awards for his work in Ninja Assassin.^[20]
[edit]References

^ "Ninja Assassin". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2010-05-16.

^ Paquet, Darcy (February 13, 2008). "Rain falls on 'Ninja Assassin'". Variety. Retrieved May 20, 2008.

^ Sperling, Nicole (April 28, 2008). "Wachowski Brothers getting underway on 'Ninja Assassin'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved May 20, 2008.

^ Neuman, Clayton (October 13, 2008). "Masters of SciFi - J. Michael Straczynski on Changeling's Message and Warp-Speed Writing for Ninja Assassin". AMC. Retrieved October 14, 2008.

^ Kastelan, Karsten (April 14, 2008). "Medienboard funds 'Assassin,' Schweiger pic". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved May 20, 2008.

^ Meza, Ed (May 8, 2008). "German fund backs 'Ninja Assassin'". Variety. Retrieved May 20, 2008.

^ Ball, Ryan (May 30, 2008). "Cameras Roll on the Wachowskis’ Ninja Assassin". animationmagazine.net (Animation Magazine). Retrieved July 11, 2008.

^ Douglas, Edward (August 1, 2008). "SDCC EXCL: Ninja Assassin Director James McTeigue". ComingSoon.net (Coming Soon Media, L.P.). Retrieved August 1, 2008.

^ Szymanski, Mike (March 18, 2008). "Chou Stars In Wachowski Ninja Film". Sci Fi Wire (Sci Fi Channel). Retrieved May 20, 2008.

^ "Colin Chou Turns Down Ninja Assassin". ReelzChannel.com (ReelzChannel). April 18, 2008. Retrieved May 20, 2008.

^ "Ninja Assassin By Warner Bros.". iTunes. Retrieved 2010-05-16.

^ ^a ^b "Ninja Assassin (2009)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved January 31, 2010.

^ "Ninja Assassin reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved January 31, 2010.

^ LaSalle, Mick (November 25, 2009). "Review: 'Ninja Assassin' butt kicking is boring". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved January 31, 2010.

^ Williams, Joe (November 27, 2009). "Punchless martial-arts film falls flat". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved January 31, 2010.

^ Nashawaty, Chris (November 24, 2009). "Ninja Assassin (2009)". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 31, 2010.

^ "Ninja Assassin". Warner Bros.. Retrieved 2010-05-16.

^ "Ninja Assassin". Eiga Consultant. Retrieved 2010-05-16.

^ "Ninja Assassin". DVDActive. Retrieved 2010-05-16.

^ Rosenberg, Adam (June 7, 2010). "Rain Takes The MTV Movie Awards Golden Popcorn For Biggest Badass Star". MTV. Retrieved June 19, 2010.