Ninjas vs. Vampiresby Sheena McNeilReviews may contain information that could be considered 'spoilers'. Readers should proceed at their own risk. Studio
Credits Grade: 5 For full disclosure I must acknowledge that one of our own Tarts is a producer for this movie.Aaron is romantically rejected by his best friend right before they get attacked by vampires and rescued by ninjas. Seth is the leader of these vampires, and he wants to rule the world. He even unleashes his monster of a brother to kill of those in his way. Aaron has to become a ninja to help stop them. This rag-tag band of heroes is in for their fiercest fight yet! If you like watching the B-quality movies that SyFy creates, then you'll probably enjoy Ninjas vs. Vampires. My husband and I are always up for a campy or kitsch horror film as long as it makes us laugh. Ninjas vs. Vampires is not the best we've seen, but neither is it the worst. We enjoyed the watch and even had a few good laughs, but it's not something we'll make time to watch again. The acting is a bit stiff, especially Seth's (but I partially blame his stiff posture), but it gets better as the movie progresses. The film quality also improves the further into the movie you get; the only real issues with this are the shakiness of the hand-held (I assume) camera and some of the relentless back-and-forth focus between characters. Strangely enough, the fangs also improve as the movie continues. At the beginning, we both audibly said "really?" when we saw the vampires sprout fangs. It was pretty bad, especially considering I can buy better fangs at a Halloween store. Thankfully, the fang quality improves, seemingly in part due to some CG effects. Just get past that opening scene and you're fine. The special effects of the magic are quite well done — much better than I was expecting! I do like that there's a balance of characters rather than just one hero and one villain coming to the forefront. A few words on the ninjas. They are not really ninjas. After having seen Ninjas vs. Aliens (not by this studio) I was hoping for real ninjas. This group of "ninjas" is comprised of a vampire, a witch, and three guys that dress in black and use some ninja weapons along with guns. They mention these guys having "powers," but we never learn what they are or see them in action (other than Aaron being immune to the witch's magic). The opening fight scene left me more hopeful than it should have about the ninjas as they seemed to be more traditional and skilled. As we see later in the film, katanas get used like broadswords (which makes them totally useless), and empty-hand fighting skills are bad attempts at martial arts that would not really work unless their opponent just sucks more than they do. The one positive is that the actor playing Aaron actually knows how to use nunchaku (nunchucks). My husband and I were both impressed; he was actually using them correctly in battle (not just swinging them around with skill). This movie gets an A+ on that point (nevermind that it's illegal to carry nunchaku — it's not like there are any law enforcement officials in this movie). I recommend watching the alternate ending if you want closure rather than cheese-y sequel-prep. The original ending also tries too hard, while the alternate just flows and makes sense. There are other extras including deleted scenes, bloopers and a few different commentaries. I couldn't bring myself to sit through the movie again to see commentary or to watch anything more than the alternate ending. If the commentary had just been a separate interview I probably would have watched it. I wasn't even curious about deleted scenes or bloopers, and normally we enjoy those kind of extras. It's just that by the time the movie ended we were done and ready to move on. If you like these kind of movies, you'll probably have fun watching this one. Written: October 31, 2011
|
|
|
Home | Features | Columns | Culture Vultures | Report Card Tart Store | Indicia | Contact | Archives © Sequential Tart, 1998 – 2020 |
