Absolutely Fantastic

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

Set in sixteenth century Japan this film opens a group of Iga Ninjas attacking an Oda castle. After blowing it up they must fight off a group of rival ninjas. Then on the way back to their village they see a ball of fire in the sky. After returning home they are ordered to investigate the fireball. In the forests they encounter more rival ninjas but something attacks and wipes out the enemy; they have no idea what this monster is or where it came from but they know they have to defeat it. For the rest of the film they battle these alien monsters.During the opening scene I started to think that this might be terrible; as we were introduced to our protagonists; Yamata, the leader; Jinnai, his friend with a diamond stud in one ear; Rin, a sexy female ninja and Nezumi, a blond haired cowardly ninja I was sure my fears had just been confirmed... then something strange happened; I realised that I was gripped. The characters may have been somewhat ridiculous but they were also a lot of fun. Likewise the monsters may have been the most obvious 'men in rubber suits' since early 'Doctor Who' but they were still surprisingly menacing. The action was over the top and pretty bloody, with heads being severed and squashed and one ninja ripped in two. There are a few surprises; most notably when we learn what the monsters can do to some of their victims. The cast do a solid enough job; they clearly know they aren't in a great film but still made an effort; they particularly impress during the numerous fight scenes. Overall I'd say this won't be for everybody; being objective it is a bit rubbish but being subjective it is a lot more fun than it has any right to be... I'd recommend it to anybody wanting a fun monster movie with action, gore and laughs!These comments are based on watching the film in Japanese with English subtitles.

Again and again people are having trouble with flicks coming from Japan. They used to be extremely gory but the scene over there evolved too and got a bit away from the gore. Still, they deliver weird flicks with fast moving ninja's or other persons. In other words, you have to understand there way of living, I mean the Eastern philosophy, to appreciate such a flick. I've waited a few months to get my hand on an official release, finally it's out in our region. And it was worth the wait for me. I enjoyed it because it had a bit of humour and gore in it. Naturally you have to dig ninja to enjoy it. First of all, the alien will be a let down for so many people. It doesn't look like "alien" it's more based on Godzilla and sometimes it's CGI and sometimes it's a man in a suit. Even the ninja's look a bit weird, you have the macho type more busy with his hair, a coward too old to fight and a real ninja. Naturally there's a female ninja too and it's funny to see that the alien wanted to grap her breasts. There is so much fun in it that you can't take it seriously. But it clocks in under 90 minutes and that's good. The first 20 minutes is all about stupidity and comedy, after that the gore and red stuff appears. If you know that the director also was responsible for "Ninja" then you know what I mean. You love this one or you will hate it, there's no in-between.

Another fantastic hyperactive movie comes out of Japan. In the wake of the recent years releases of over-the-top movies that come from Japan, "Alien vs Ninja" is right up there along with movies like "Tokyo Gore Police", "Meatball Machine", "Samurai Princess", etc. These movie are amazing with their low budget, excessive amounts of blood and gore, and totally crazy story lines.The story told in "Alien vs Ninja" is very, very simple. A group of ninjas are out scouting when a meteor crashes near their village. And a vicious alien has come to Japan, spreading havoc and destruction. Now it is up to the ninjas to stop the aliens before it is too late."Alien vs Ninja" borrows elements from movies such as "Alien", "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" and "Army of Darkness". The alien, though it looks cheesy, was actually a nice enough touch to the movie. And you just got to love the way it sort of resembles a mixture between Godzilla and the aliens from the famous American sci-fi franchise. Oh, and it was also hilarious the way you could see it was just a dude in a latex suit from the way of the sleeves and pants were reacting to his movements and its general appearance.Moving on... The outfits worn by the ninjas were actually really cool, lots of nice details and rather cool appearance they had.The special effects were good enough, though at times it was obviously fake. But with a movie of this caliber, this hyped up speed and action, you don't really mind the low budget effects. And frankly, they were working quite well most of the time. The small creatures that went inside people's nostrils and throats were cool as well."Alien vs Ninja" has a lot of fighting scenes in it, and these work quite nicely as well. They are well-choreographed and looks good on the screen (despite the cheesy alien).All in all, I found "Alien vs Ninja" to be surprisingly good. I was thoroughly entertained throughout the entire movie. Highly recommended for fans of Japanese movies, and for those liking gore and high-octane action.

Unfortunately this promising title fails to deliver. When I started watching this I didn't expect so much goofy and campy humor.Im a great fan of Keita Amemia's work, especially the ZEIRAM series and MIRAI NINJA. So when I saw the poster and the trailer for this film I expected something similar - cool Asian sci-fi action, with great atmosphere, created by the blend of genres. Aliens and ninjas - looked like this can't go wrong! But it did. There are a lot of boring dialogs. The movie's pace is messed up. Even for its 80 minutes it is still slow. It starts with a great opening shot that leaves you thirsty for adrenaline and you don't get it for the next 25 minutes. The real problem is the poor comedy attempts. The parody elements are annoying and they just ruin it all, which is a shame. It has a production value high enough to make it a modern B-classic.It's obviously a B-movie and no one expects state of the art effects from it. Actually I prefer the practical effects - puppets, costumes and animatronics are a breath of fresh air in this CGI era.What I like the most about it is the work of the art department. The character and creature designs are cool and the costumes are really neat. Some look like live cation versions of manga drawings. I guess that Ninja Gaiden fans would appreciate the looks of the main character.The martial art scenes are decent, but nothing really remarkable. Directing, camera-work and acting are mediocre at best.Alien vs Ninja is a great concept and I regret to see it wasted like that.