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Alien vs Ninja
Yet another entry into the burgeoning
Eastern Eye ‘the title tells the whole story’ canon, Alien vs Ninja
was produced by Nikkatsu, Japan’s oldest movie studio, and is the
first title to appear on their new Sushi Typhoon imprint. Given this
pedigree, a tagline ripped off from Predator (‘if it bleeds,
ninjas can kill it’) and a title like Alien vs Ninja, the film
couldn’t be all bad, could it?
Of course not. It could however be mostly
bad, and it is, though it has several redeeming qualities of note,
namely the shapely presence of Mika Hijii as a samurai hottie, a
refreshingly self-aware comic sensibility and a penchant for the absurd
that sets it apart from other ninja-alien fare like... well, I guess
it’s pretty unique in this regard too.
CLICK TO ZOOM
The premise of AvN is summarised
simply enough. While off tussling with bad guys in the forest, a band
of ninjas led by the feisty Yamata (Ben Hiura) are startled to see what
appears to be a meteor crash near their village. Upon closer inspection
the meteor is actually an alien craft, and in addition to being quite
grumpy the vicious occupants of the vessel has a penchant for ninja
flesh. Seemingly oblivious to earthy weapons, these pesky aliens are
evidently going to take some beating...
The film has recently been slated for an
American remake, and with director Jon Favreau (Iron Man) having
recently completed work on Cowboys & Aliens it would seem
audiences are quite keen for this sort of genre-bending fare. AvN
owes much to films such as Alien vs Predator and the work of
Sam Raimi, but to its credit it wears its extensive influences on its
sleeve and winds up being a pretty damn entertaining martial art horror
flick. Lots of gruesome kills, well-choreographed action sequences,
so-goofy-they’re-cool aliens and even some samurai eye candy – what more
could you ask for?
Video & Audio
Not since Evil Dead III has a film
made such obvious use of blue screen technology, and not since 1961s
Creature From the Haunted Sea has a supposedly terrifying monster
looked so wondrously, amazingly unconvincing. These aren’t complaints
by the way, merely observations from someone with an avowed appreciation
for filmic tat. AvN may be tat but it is redeemed somewhat by
some excellent costumes and the presence of Hijii, who really must be
seen and salivated over to be believed. Oh and in case you were
wondering about the audio and/or video, they’re both quite good, and
AvN is something of an oddity in that as well as featuring Japanese
5.1 and 2.0 audio mixes it also boasts an English 5.1 surround dub
replete with top notch voicework. Shocking!
Special Features
Nothing of consequence really, just a
theatrical trailer and several Eastern Eye trailers prefaced by that
jarring, hideous ‘What Are You Really Burning?’ anti-piracy ad that is
the bane of anyone who watches more than two DVDs a week. This disc
deserves a negative score for bonus content because it actually made my
life worse to sit through it, though the trailer for Big Tits Zombie
admittedly provided some visual recompense. I also never get
sick of typing the words Big Tits Zombie. Alright, half a point
then. Geez. |
