Searching for a job, Jubie, a young courageous guy, goes to a Japanese town, where he meets the evil and corrupted demons of a big corrupted gang, struggles against survival and he falls in love with a ninja girl that helps him to survive.
For those seeking the best ninja/samurai action on screen, there are dozens of live action movies either directed by Akira Kurosawa or based on manga by Kazuo Koike that are much better films than Ninja Scroll.
What dazzles most is the contrast between the beautifully rendered, pastoral backdrops of crags, waterfalls, forests, and temples, and the gruesome, stylized violence that takes place against them.
There is so much going on here, that the film's total lack of subtext - or, more generously, its pure escapism - only sinks in afterwards. It may be a tale of sound and fury, signifying nothing - but all that demon-whupping sure is fun.
Movie Gurus
September 24, 2003
Teenage boys beware: this is NOT a date movie . . .
A wandering ronin takes on a posse of supernatural ninjas in a whipcracking race that never lets reality get in the way of a hearty bout of blood-lettting.
