Kunoichi (Review)
Kunoichi
aka Kunoichi Ninja Girl
2011
Directed and written by Seiji Chiba
A woman working the fields and tending to her baby is ganked by a neck rope thrown by an unseen kidnapper. Thus is the world of Kunoichi!
As you probably know by now, TarsTarkas.NET is a fan of martial arts films, particularly female martial artists. And as Rina Takeda is one of the up and coming women taking the films to the new decade, we’ve been following her career closely. From High-Kick Girl! to KG – Karate Girl, Takeda has matured as an actress and martial artist. And Takeda has taken on more and more projects, keeping herself busy. But Kunoichi is a step back in the quality department, and I was disappointed at the final project.
Kunoichi is marketed as a period martial arts piece. We know it won’t be a giant spectacle, and I fully expect a low-budget affair. It’s set in the woods, a familiar place for fans of low budget films, as that way they have an excuse for no extras running around. And permits are easier to get for running around in the middle of nowhere (if they even bothered!) But Kunoichi is surprising in how low budget it looks and feels. It’s a martial arts film with barely any martial arts. That’s not what I signed up for! The only decent fight is around the 40 minute mark, and is over with 10 minutes to go on our hour-long film. Besides a few teases of fighting and some kicking, there is little else, and nothing that is choreographed for more than one move. Disappointing is an understatement.
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Stop for me, it’s the CLAW!
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Director Seiji Chiba has put out numerous low budget films in recent years. Alien vs Ninja garnered some praise, and probably made funding of Kunoichi easier. But while Alien vs Ninja was a mix of comedy and action, Kunoichi is stoically serious in tone. You don’t get the sense that anyone is having fun here, and that hurts the film as well. I don’t expect Giggles Ninja Girl, but one or two goofy things wouldn’t have hurt.
And once again, we don’t need no stinking subtitles!
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Categories: Movie Reviews, Ugly Tags: Japan, Kentaro Shimazu, Kotono, Masanori Mimoto, Mayu Onomura, Mitsuki Koga, Rina Takeda, Seiji Chiba, Shiho Fujisawa, Women who kick butt, Yuichi Sato
Neo-Action Double Bill
Remember when we wrote about Hard Revenge, Milly? Of course you do, because you check this website every day! So that 44 minute film is part of a double feature! The Neo-Action Double Feature! It’s like Grindhouse except not four hours long. Milly is being teamed with director Isao Kaneko’s The Masked Girl, about a girl who is genetically modified to be a superheroine by a villain.
Plot of Hard Revenge, Milly
In Hard Revenge, Milly, abolition of gun control laws at some indeterminate point in the future causes Yokohama to become a lawless bastion of violent crime. The worst of the new breed of criminals, “The Jack Brothers”—named for their leader, Jack (Mitsuki Koga)—brutally murder the husband and baby of Milly (Miki Mizuno) in front of her eyes and leave her for dead. Milly survives the incident and vows to get revenge. After receiving sword training from a master named Jubei, Milly infiltrates the abandoned factory The Jack Brothers use as their base of operations and murders Jack’s henchmen one by one, leading to a final bloody showdown.
Plot of The Masked Girl
In The Masked Girl an ordinary high school student named Ai Hoshino (Yuki Shimizu) is kidnapped on her way home from school. She later wakes up and finds herself held captive in the hideout of “Joker” and the evil Black Maria (Aiko Sato). Luckily she’s able to escape with the help of Aoyama (Tsuyoshi Kida), but not before being genetically altered by Joker—giving her super-human powers. While being pursued by agents of Joker, Ai confides in her friend Yumi (Shizuka Nakamura), but discovers Yumi has also been altered by Black Maria and brainwashed into swearing allegiance to Joker. Ai is forced to fight Yumi, but more powerful enemies will soon arrive. Eventually Ai gets a superhero outfit from Aoyoma and becomes “The Masked Girl” to confront Black Maria’s minions.
Nippon Cinema has the trailer of The Masked Girl, which is also at the Official Site for the two films.
Categories: Movie News Tags: Hard Revenge Milly, Isao Kaneko, Japan, Miki Mizuno, Mitsuki Koga, Tsuyoshi Kida, Yuki Shimizu