REVIEW: ‘The Ninja Dragon’ (1990)

Alien assassins are killing off Yakuza leaders including the head of a long line of ninja. The clan leader’s daughter and appointed successor becomes the chosen mate of the assassin’s leader and it’s up to three sworn protectors from the Ninja Defenders to rescue her.

If gory, cranium-crushing action, female wrestling and overindulgent cartoons turned into live-action are your bag then you might enjoy The Ninja Dragon. Even so, the film’s cheap production values and amateurish direction from manga and anime creator Go Nagai (Devilman, Cutey Honey) will likely lead fans of this sort of tripe to disappointment.

The story is banal in all the ways you would expect an exploitive Japanese comic book to be. A rigid, Terminator-like assassin is going around killing Yakuza leaders, ripping out vital organs and crushing their skulls. A meeting is held to discuss the problem, but one of the members named Ranjuji reveals himself to be behind the plot and has his assassins kill everyone off. One of those killed is Takeo Nindo, leader of a family of ninja who had named his daughter as the next in line to control the clan. Yet, Shinobu is just your average college student who wants to have fun. Before his death, Takeo appointed her a dopey bodyguard who takes her to and from school and everywhere in between. Although appearing as a moron initially, he eventually reveals himself to be Ryu Mormoji, Ninja Defender of the Nindo clan, sworn to protect the leader with his life. Despite his paltry efforts, Shinobu is kidnapped and taken to Ranjuji to be his bride. Ryu assembles two more Defenders and together they assault Ranjuji’s turf. It doesn’t take long to discover that these thugs are not human since they bleed gray ooze and magically morph into grotesque shapes. Ryu’s companions take on the assassins while he faces Ranjuji himself in order to save Shinobu and apparently, the world. If only he could have saved the movie…

The film is reminiscent of The Peacock King (1988) or The Story of Ricky (1992), both of which combined martial arts with pre-CGI fantasy effects and cartoonish levels of gore. But here the direction is noticeably poor. This was Go Nagai’s first attempt at directing live-action after having worked on a number of anime projects. He definitely brought his love for graphic exploitation to the screen. There a several scenes depicting gory details to lose your lunch over, but most of it is so chopped up in bad editing, bad lighting and even worse makeup that you’ll laugh rather than cringe. Several scenes seem to have been cut short or left unresolved. This also looks like a very low budget effort. So called aliens fight with cheap rubber masks or tentacles. The final transformation of the lead villain into an indescribable blob is low lit and chopped up which is a good thing, since what you actually see looks pretty lame.

With the exception of Tetsuya Matsui’s performance as one of the Ninja Defenders, the fighting action is the greatest disappointment. The “star” of the film with the most notoriety is Cutey Suzuki, a real-life pro wrestler in Japan who plays one of the alien assassins. Probably the most ridiculous scene in the film occurs when she engages in an extended wrestling match with the one female Ninja Defender who comes to save Shinobu. They both happen to be wearing pro wrestling-type Spandex! Director Go Nagai just lets the camera roll as the two dole out body slams and scissor locks. Kenji Otsuki, who plays Ryu and the only person who ever actually wears a ninja suit in the film is an inferior action lead with no charisma. He seems to fade into the background as the film progresses, despite his role as the savior at the end.

The real action star of the film is Tetsuya Matsui. He’s worked in Hong Kong on films such as Magnificent Warriors (1987). He simply walks into the story when Ryu calls for help to save the girl. Up to this point there haven’t been any real fights. But, when Tetsuya and his companions arrive at the villain’s compound, dozens of men pour out to surround the group. One decent overhead shot shows the whole scene playing out fairly good choreography. Tetsuya’s work is impressive by Hong Kong standards and all the more so considering how bad everyone around him looks.

There is some shock cinema value to The Ninja Dragon, but little else. The production is inferior in most regards and only one or two action scenes will hold the interest of Hong Kong film fans. Approach with extreme caution.