Revenge Of The Ninja Review

MPAA Rating: R
Released: 1983

Revenge Of The Ninja was an action-packed American film that capitalized on the ninja/martial arts craze that spread across our nation during the 70's and early 80's. Cho Osaki, a Japanese ninja, travels to the United States with his surviving family in an attempt to put his dark past behind him, but he eventually discovers that his greatest threat has also crossed the ocean and is seeking a final bloody showdown. No one can deny this film is cheesy, but if martial arts action flicks are up your alley then Revenge Of The Ninja is some of the most entertaining cheese you'll find.

Everyone knows that a ninja is a skilled assassin able to kill a foe without breaking a sweat… right? Well, just in case you weren't aware of that fact, Revenge Of The Ninja hammers that tidbit home during its opening scene where a family is decimated by a pack of ninjas. Using bows, sickles, swords, shurikens and many other interesting instruments of death, defenseless women and children are cut down in the blink of an eye.

Cho Osaki (Sho Kosugi) and Braden (Arthur Roberts), an American entrepreneur, stumble across the carnage too late to save the unfortunate victims, but just in time to mop up the ninjas that committed these atrocities. The retribution really doesn't appease Cho's soul, though, since the family that was destroyed was his own. It seems Cho Osaki is a ninja, and the attackers were a rival clan.

Braden offers to take his friend under his wing back in America, and in order to escape the bloodshed and hopefully keep his remaining family alive – an infant baby and his mother – he reluctantly accepts the offer.

About eight years pass and we are reintroduced to the Osaki family. Cho is now working for Braden in one of his art galleries; he imports valuable dolls from Japan to be put on display. But Braden harbors a secret – within these dolls is heroine he plans to sell to an Italian mob family headed by Chifano (Mario Gallo). Cho, of course, does not realize he is inadvertently smuggling drugs for his old friend. Nor does he know that Braden is much more than he appears to be… he's an American ninja!

Braden's plan to sell the drugs becomes endangered on two fronts:

Chifano decides Braden's demands for payment are becoming tiring, so he refuses to abide by the original timetable.
Kane (Kane Kosugi), Cho's son, accidentally breaks one of the dolls and discovers that drugs are contained within.

Such nuisances are no big deal for Braden… a ninja can handle anything! So he dons his black ninja garb, equips himself with an amazingly varied assortment of weapons and single-handedly takes on both the Chifano crime family and his old friend. Whereas the Italian mobsters don't know what hit them, Cho isn't so defenseless… he has a few ninja tricks of his own up his sleeve…

The story is serviceable enough to keep the action flowing, but not much more. The acting is iffy (though Arthur Roberts and Mario Gallo were pretty good). But who cares! When you watch a film like Revenge Of The Ninja you're coming for one thing: action. And on this front, the movie delivers in spades.

Each of the fights in the film (excluding the two involving the annoying kid, Kane) is a very well choreographed and high-adrenaline affair. They are creative and often fairly brutal exchanges that never lack in excitement. Part of the reason for their great success is the sheer variety of weapons used – you'll witness everything from an Indian wielding dual tomahawks to the expected arsenal of ninja tools: paper fans, knives, swords, shards spit from the mouth, ball bearings and floor spikes (an ugly combination), shurikens, sickles and more.

And if the above were not already enough to make this film a hoot, you'll also witness ninja hypnosis and a ninja granny! Revenge Of The Ninja gets high marks for fully embracing its cheesy side and bringing out every trick in the book.

Rating a movie like this can be difficult, because on a highbrow level you really can't give a cheese-fest like this a high score. But the bottom line is I had great fun watching it, and if you accept it for what it is and enjoy this type of film I believe you will too. They just don't make movies like Revenge Of The Ninja anymore, and it's a shame.

Movie rating: 7 stars

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