Nurtured on the wave of 1980s ninja flicks, the Wachowskis and McTeigue revisit that B-movie realm with an A-grade effects budget and an Asian superstar, Korean popstrel Rain (Speed Racer), who they cast as Raizo, a ruthless killer raised by the Ozunu clan but sworn to exact vengeance upon them. While the mixed martial arts proffer plenty of limb-lopping, and at least one very literal ‘face-off’, the choreography is a little drab, and even murky at times.
With gallons of slick CGI gore, the filmmakers seek a graphic-novel-meets-computer-game feel, and that’s what they achieve; with the rice paper-thin characters, however, it’s more Ninja Gaiden than V For Vendetta.
