Reviewed by Neil Davey
Stars Yukie Nakama, Jo Odagiri, Tomoka Kurotani,
Erika Sawajiri, Kippei Shiina, Takeshi Masu,
Mitsuki Koga, Tak Sakaguchi
Written by Kenya Hirata & Futaro Yamada
UK certification 15 | UK RRP £15.99
DVD Region 2 | Runtime 98 minutes
Directed by Ten Shimoyama
Warring ninjas, forbidden romance, astonishingly choreographed fight scenes ... Shinobi will no doubt be written off by lazy critics as House of Flying Daggers meets Romeo & Juliet. There is more to it than that, but it IS hard to shake that Creeping Montagu, Hidden Capulet feeling.
Based on an apparently mammoth manga called Basilisk, Shinobi centres on two rival ninja clans, the Koga and the Iga. The clans have been fighting for over 400 years, and the local Lord decrees that they must now live in peace. He's basically suspicious that the two clans, with their secretive martial arts training, are a major threat to national security (ooh, a bit of politics there) so he comes up with a plan to remove their best warriors. He'll hold a contest but, rather than just be a champion-of-champions-here's-your-cup-jolly-well-done sort of contest, it's going to be a Running Man-esque duel to the death. Around this frame is built the 'forbidden' romance between the Iga girl Oboro (Yukie Nakama) and Gennosuke (Terada) and, somewhat inevitably, both are selected as champions. With its mix of big themes, special effects and smart choreography, Shinobi is an interesting addition to the above list of poetically violent martial arts films, as long as you like that sort of thing. Unlike, say, Flying Daggers, it's not going to be the film to convince the cynical of the merits of the genre and Nakama isn't going to win many awards for acting — I make it two expressions — but it's a passable diversion.
EXTRAS ** Again, passable, without really setting the world alight. Production featurettes about the effects, the set etc, plus storyboard to film comparisons. OK, but not exactly essential.