Sunday, May 3, 2009

NINJA ASSASSIN: Wachowski's Revenge?





Tonight on PLANET GRIFFIN, We'll be following up on a little film (by Hollywood standards, a film budget coming in for roughly $1 million ) directed by James McTiegue and produced by The Wachowski Brothers called NINJA ASSASSIN currently filming in Germany. Now, seeing as how rushed the movie capital is to milk whatever concepts they can find, this movie comes as no surprise to me. Rising Stars Alum Michael Stracynzski wrote the entire screenplay in a mere 53 hours! ( If the film is a hit, remember 53 hours, cuz' you WILL hear about it again and Michael's name WILL begin popping up everywhere---) This is a true comic book adaptation without said comic book.

The film centers around Raizo (played by Korean pop star Rain), a young street rat taken in by the mysterious Onozu clan; raised and trained in the arts of--- well. Eventually, the day arrives when young Raizo comes of age and must confront the very people that raised him. Pretty simple... Of course, in the hands of V for Vendetta veteran McTiegue, the action will be anything but. The tentative release date is around Thanksgiving of this year.

My take? Stylish visuals will naturally dominate this one. As long as no one ventures into Speed Racer territory (which was Rain's first film and the casting choice was based on this), it may stand a chance at being halfway decent. ( For anyone who wants a surefire bet? look for Ryuichi Kitamura's VERSUS--- if this movie can touch any part of that classic, I'll be first in line for the ticket!)

2 comments:

Samax said...

ah yes...
the #1 pass-time of 2008 (kicking dirt on Speed Racer) rears it's head again. that movie is SO under-rated. but that's not the point of this post, is it?

yeah (on the subject), this looks cool. i'm interersted to see this. i like your take of comics adaptation without the comic. i have a growing list of movies that should be comics, and i'll put this on it without even seeing the movie!

RodBuddah said...

Ha! Maybe it's just me--- I'm an old school lover of Speed back in the day. My kids love the new version, so either way, the series serves it's purpose. I'm really hoping this movie hits, cuz' I'm getting tired of all the sizzle and NO steak!

And on that note, everybody can agree.