I had never seen this film before until now. I was a ninja nut as a boy in the late 80s, but this film passed me by for some reason.
Straight up, I love the 80s cheese vibe of this film! Leg warmers, synth rock tunes, arcade machines - it's so up my street! It's very well shot, the lead is charismatic and engaging, and the opening assassination scene really got me excited as its is just utter chaos, and this made me invested in what was to follow.
Unfortunately It's the rest of the story where it maybe starts to fall apart. Now look, I can stretch my suspension of disbelief quite far, but even this film pushed it a bit.
I don't understand why they went with this mystical "spirit transference" thing, because it was jumping the shark to the extreme, and I'd have much preferred it if Christie had been trained in the regular way. Also, Lucinda Dickey looks fantastic, but it's obvious she has no martial arts training, and the action scenes suffer a bit due to it (although it's passable).
My biggest gripe is that the "romance" between Christie and rapey cop Billy could have easily been left out. This guy basically harasses her at the start of the film like a sex pest, and 2 scenes later they are an item? It kind of ruined the vibe a bit as it doesn't seem like something she'd do. In fact, the film didn't need any romance whatsoever in order to work with the plot it had, and the entire character of Billy was unnecessary and could have just as easily been a detective (another female perhaps) instead of a useless love interest. Sho Kosugi lends his name to the film, but is hardly in, although his presence is welcome as he's always good.
The film does take some unexpected twists and turns though. One minute it's an 80s cheese fest, the next a martial arts film, and then it turns into The Exorcist and Poltergeist at one point. The possession plot is actually more reminiscent of a horror film, and while it's unfocused it's definitely interesting and unique. The synthesizer score is also really good, even if a lot of the cues are directly lifted from Revenge of the Ninja.
To be honest it's a wonder this film got made at all. I mean, a female lead in a Ninja film from 1984? I love it! It's just a shame that the film is bogged down in this bloated mysticism, and it feels like a lot of it is there because the film is saying "There's no way a women could be a real ninja, so we'll just make it because of magic".
Ninja III could have been the Flashdance of the martial arts world. It could have shown a genuine character arc with Christie if the Ninja at the start had trained her instead of just psychically emailing his skills to her brain. However, she looked like she had no issues or challenges with her life in the first place, so there was nothing to overcome.
All the gratuitous shots of Christie in scantily clad clothes could have been forgiven if she was portrayed as a genuine badass, but her character never earned any of these ninja skills and so there was no real journey for her.
What we end up with is essentially just a very scared but very pretty girl being used as an avatar for a malicious ghost instead of kicking ass on her own merit.
As a film, it's hugely flawed - but it's also massively entertaining simply for the sheer amount of crazy ideas is cobbles together.
I'm not saying you'll enjoy it, but you definitely have to see it.
Straight up, I love the 80s cheese vibe of this film! Leg warmers, synth rock tunes, arcade machines - it's so up my street! It's very well shot, the lead is charismatic and engaging, and the opening assassination scene really got me excited as its is just utter chaos, and this made me invested in what was to follow.
Unfortunately It's the rest of the story where it maybe starts to fall apart. Now look, I can stretch my suspension of disbelief quite far, but even this film pushed it a bit.
I don't understand why they went with this mystical "spirit transference" thing, because it was jumping the shark to the extreme, and I'd have much preferred it if Christie had been trained in the regular way. Also, Lucinda Dickey looks fantastic, but it's obvious she has no martial arts training, and the action scenes suffer a bit due to it (although it's passable).
My biggest gripe is that the "romance" between Christie and rapey cop Billy could have easily been left out. This guy basically harasses her at the start of the film like a sex pest, and 2 scenes later they are an item? It kind of ruined the vibe a bit as it doesn't seem like something she'd do. In fact, the film didn't need any romance whatsoever in order to work with the plot it had, and the entire character of Billy was unnecessary and could have just as easily been a detective (another female perhaps) instead of a useless love interest. Sho Kosugi lends his name to the film, but is hardly in, although his presence is welcome as he's always good.
The film does take some unexpected twists and turns though. One minute it's an 80s cheese fest, the next a martial arts film, and then it turns into The Exorcist and Poltergeist at one point. The possession plot is actually more reminiscent of a horror film, and while it's unfocused it's definitely interesting and unique. The synthesizer score is also really good, even if a lot of the cues are directly lifted from Revenge of the Ninja.
To be honest it's a wonder this film got made at all. I mean, a female lead in a Ninja film from 1984? I love it! It's just a shame that the film is bogged down in this bloated mysticism, and it feels like a lot of it is there because the film is saying "There's no way a women could be a real ninja, so we'll just make it because of magic".
Ninja III could have been the Flashdance of the martial arts world. It could have shown a genuine character arc with Christie if the Ninja at the start had trained her instead of just psychically emailing his skills to her brain. However, she looked like she had no issues or challenges with her life in the first place, so there was nothing to overcome.
All the gratuitous shots of Christie in scantily clad clothes could have been forgiven if she was portrayed as a genuine badass, but her character never earned any of these ninja skills and so there was no real journey for her.
What we end up with is essentially just a very scared but very pretty girl being used as an avatar for a malicious ghost instead of kicking ass on her own merit.
As a film, it's hugely flawed - but it's also massively entertaining simply for the sheer amount of crazy ideas is cobbles together.
I'm not saying you'll enjoy it, but you definitely have to see it.