| A co-production between Japan and Mainland China, the latter camp is represented by the company that brought us the grand The South Shaolin Master but most polish is gone in Ninjas & Dragons. Starring Takagi Junya (a student of Sonny Chiba's and the replacement when the producers couldn't bring in Hiroyuki Sanada of Ninja In The Dragon's Den and The Twilight Samurai fame) as a Japanese ninja after revenge. He gets caught up in bigger warfare and comic interludes quite rightly at times favours fantasy weirdness but more often than not bores. An endless 83 minutes of dull and muddled plot only gets interrupted via such wonderful elements as the old witch hiding an acrobatic child under her cape and any ninja technique employed manages to be automatically cool. The ending achieves worthy status as it for a prolonged period of time brings above average elements and higher division kicking to an otherwise tough trek of a film. |
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