REVIEW
Shogun's Ninja is an ambitious and bewildering behemoth of a film containing great martial arts action, memorable characters, and possibly the worst soundtrack ever conceived of for a historical adventure.

The first obstacle to overcome is a confusing story that weaves through Japanese history like a drunken driver. The film begins at the end of the Muromachi period in the 1570's when various warlords still fought for control of Japan. Hiroyuki Sanada's parents are the Muromachi clan leaders who are killed by Toyotomi Hideyoshi's general, played by Sonny Chiba, leaving Sanada to make his escape as a young boy by jumping into the sea. He happens to be picked up by a Chinese merchant ship and is raised in China where he meets Sue Shiomi, a kung fu expert who literally splits her britches in excitement. After mastering the arts of kung fu, Sanada returns to Japan 10 or 15 years later to rebuild his clan.

Meanwhile, having overthrown the Muromachi clan, Hideyoshi has become the Shogun in all but name with Chiba as his right-hand man. Upon learning that Sanada has returned, Hideyoshi orders Chiba to get a hold of a sword within Sanada's possession, upon which is inscribed one-half of a map leading to a secret gold mine. To make things worse for Sanada and more convoluted for viewers, Hattori Hanzo from Japan's most famous ninja family also wants to find the gold mine. He sends his ninja apprentice, played by Yuki Ninagawa to retrieve Sanada's sword. But wait, she's also Sanada's childhood friend and they fall in love with one another. Torn by her loyalty to Hanzo, Ninagawa takes the sword, leaving Sanada in the demented hands of Chiba and his pair of extremely odd companions who like to jump onto his shoulders for kicks. Sanada's followers are virtually wiped out by Chiba and his ninja posse but Sanada and two of his companions escape with Ninagawa who decides to bring the sword back. They stumble across an aging ninja master who trains Sanada in the ways of ninjitsu and gives him another sword with the remainder of the map inscribed on it. Towards the end, Sanada and his few companions, including Sue Shiomi ambush Chiba and his crew with the late help of Hattori Hanzo and his fellow ninja.

The story is chuck full of errors such as erroneously giving Chiba the title of Shogun when in fact the title did not exist until Hideyoshi's successor, Tokugawa Ieyasu took power and officially became Japan's first Shogun. Also, Hattori Hanzo would have been a small boy at the time of these events, but then who cares about historical accuracy when the film itself is so odd. Yes, a potentially great film suffers from several glaring faux pas. The most obvious to anyone who can hear is the awful soundtrack which incorporates Japanese pop with early eighties, smooth jazz synthesizer music. Its enough to make Alan Parsons' soft rock soundtrack to the medieval love story, Lady and the Hawk seem like a masterpiece. I won't even discuss Hong Kong soundtracks from the same era. It was a bad time for musicians everywhere, but I digress. Another oddity about the film is its uneasy combination of historical drama and B-movie action. The film veers towards fantasy with so-called spider ninjas burrowing through the sand and climbing trees like monkeys. In one odd scene, Sanada does a bit of interpretive dance in front of a bonfire to apparently excise the grief over the loss of his comrades.

Hiroyuki Sanada (AKA Henry Sanada), a former Japanese pop star who has appeared in numerous early '80's chambara and ninja pics gives a memorable physical performance. One early fight against ruffians, shortly after his return to Japan features some great legwork and choreography from Chiba. Its also interesting to see the same sort of playful slow-motion, sped up editing that's appearing in newer films like Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001). Unfortunately, the quality of this fight is not consistently displayed throughout the film.

Nevertheless, I rather enjoyed Shogun's Ninja despite its strangeness. The film may be a bit too long with an overly complex plot and action bordering on being just plain silly, but its still a lot of fun. Ninja fanatics and fans of swarthy, bare-chested male action stars and Sonny Chiba's work will undoubtedly enjoy this feature, while the curious might consider giving it a try... minus any high expectations, mind you.