Isaac Florentine on realism and fantasy of the ‘Ninja’

Fans have finally gotten a chance to sample NINJA, the latest feature film from action director Isaac Florentine thanks to a couple clips released online, one a teaser trailer and the other a rooftop fight sequence. Both show off a measure of the exaggerated style and tone that the film evokes in its latter half, something akin to an updated Hollywood ninja flick from the 1980s with shades of recent superhero movies.

These scenes depicting a Gotham-esque cityscape where armored ninjas battle with superheroic fighting ability contrast with men in hakamas practicing seemingly traditional Japanese martial arts techniques in a traditional-looking Japanese courtyard earlier in the film. The trailer in particular shows the protagonist, played by martial arts-trained actor Scott Adkins, practicing martial arts in Japan in scenes that could have come straight out of Shunichi Nagasaki’s stately karate drama BLACK BELT (2007).

This contrast was a conscious decision according to Florentine, a veteran director of nine martial arts films and a 38-year veteran of karate. “What I tried to do is [make] the Japanese sequences feel more authentic by using the help of good, traditional martial artists like Sensei Fumio Demura with some of his students. Also, Ken Nishiki from Japan (JKA) and WKF Champion Elisa Au and others.”

An element of authenticity with the Japanese martial arts has also been reflected in how Adkins’ character fights initially. “We altered, slightly, Scott’s fighting style to give it a more Japanese, old school Bujutsu flavor,” explains Florentine. “However, once the bad guys become the ‘Ninja,’ the film goes into the ‘comics-style’ world and becomes more of an actioner.”

According to Florentine, NINJA pays homage to a range of martial arts and action movies from Akira Kurosawa’s samurai comedy SANJURO and Bruce Lee’s kung fu classic FIST OF FURY to modern actioners 300 and V FOR VENDETTA. Coincidently, the latter is directed by James McTeigue who has his own ninja movie, NINJA ASSASSIN, coming out in 2009.

Footage from McTeigue’s film, which stars Korean pop star Rain in his Hollywood acting debut, has yet to be released but it’s hard not to compare the two when it’s likely that both will be released relatively close to one another.

Florentine points out that NINJA cannot compete with a studio film like NINJA ASSASSIN based on the budget alone. It’s a point well taken. NINJA ASSASSIN is produced by MATRIX helmers, the Wachowskis, for major studio Warner Bros. and has a budget upwards of $60 million. Florentine’s NINJA is produced by up-and-coming independent film companies Nu Image and Millennium Films for a fraction of that cost.

Still, NINJA has British-born actor Scott Adkins, a talented screen fighter on the verge of breaking out into mainstream stardom following his recent appearance in X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE. He may be another “white” ninja, recalling a host of Caucasian actors who starred in notoriously cheesy 1980s-era ninja films from ENTER THE NINJA to AMERICAN NINJA. However, with extensive martial arts training and Hong Kong action film experience, Adkins is not just another Michael Dudikoff, particularly as his dynamic screen fighting performances in Florentine’s UNDISPUTED 2 and SPECIAL FORCES reveal screen fighting ability on par with the best that China and Thailand has to offer.

NINJA might have been spared being likened to past “white” ninja movies had the production company stuck with their initial plans. “Originally, the protagonist was supposed to be also Japanese, but later on Nu Image decided to go with a ‘white’ ninja,” says Florentine. “In my mind there was no one else other than Scott to play that part.”

Photo: NINJA (2009). Photo courtesy of Scottadkinsfanz.co.uk.

Tags: Isaac Florentine, Ninja (2009), Scott Adkins