Simply as an action film, this is not as bad as some comments would lead one to think. There's plenty action and it comes across fairly well.
To be sure, the plot is ridiculous, but hardly any more so than the second "star Wars" trilogy. The characters are two dimensional, but there's no pretense that they might be anything more - they're simply performers in an action film, meant to swing fists, throw ninja stars and wave guns around. They do this all as well as any group of action film performers.
The film does have one undeniable positive - a rare later appearance by Yasuaki Kurata, one of the grand masters of martial arts cinema, who played a dozen bad guys for Shaw Brothers in the 1970s, and who some may remember as the aging karate master confronted by Jet Li in "Fist of Legend". He looks remarkably fit for his age, and still able to act and perform martial arts.
I would certainly caution potential viewers not to have high expectations for this film; but I wasn't all that insulted; and it was fascinating to watch a European perspective on martial arts cinema for a change.
To be sure, the plot is ridiculous, but hardly any more so than the second "star Wars" trilogy. The characters are two dimensional, but there's no pretense that they might be anything more - they're simply performers in an action film, meant to swing fists, throw ninja stars and wave guns around. They do this all as well as any group of action film performers.
The film does have one undeniable positive - a rare later appearance by Yasuaki Kurata, one of the grand masters of martial arts cinema, who played a dozen bad guys for Shaw Brothers in the 1970s, and who some may remember as the aging karate master confronted by Jet Li in "Fist of Legend". He looks remarkably fit for his age, and still able to act and perform martial arts.
I would certainly caution potential viewers not to have high expectations for this film; but I wasn't all that insulted; and it was fascinating to watch a European perspective on martial arts cinema for a change.