Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Shinobi: Heart Under Blade

(Originally Written March 9, 2015)

As the Tokugawa Shogunate seeks to solidify it’s position of power, Ieyasu Tokugawa proposes a challenge to two long time ninja clans: Iga and Kouga.  The challenge is simple: a fight to the death between two teams of their five best warriors to determine the successor to the Shogunate.  Teams are chosen and the battle of skill and sword begins.  But at the heart of this conflict lies a greater dilemma.  Young clan leaders: Oboro of the Iga and Gennosuke of the Kouga, have fallen in love.  Can this romance survive a clash of ninjas with the fate of their clans on the line or are they destined to fall in the worst possible way?

Based somewhat on the Anime Basilisk, Shinobi is the version of Romeo and Juliet everyone wanted to read in school…Romeo and Juilet with ninjas.  It’s a cool action-y twist to the classic heartbreaking tale of young, doomed love.  Gennosuke and Oboro are a cute couple even though we only get one or two scenes with them prior to the war followed by sporadic encounters throughout.  They have a quiet calmness about their romance, not dramatically declaring their love but being rather chill and understanding.  Gennosuke may be the bit more passionate of the two but Oboro has her moments, especially when she gets mad for reasons I wont spoil.  This is an old school kind of boy meets girl without a lot of dramatic flair and a more natural approach to love than in most romance films.

The story stays pretty true to the Shakespeare origins but also delves heavily into the change of the times.  Not only are Oboro and Gennosuke proposing a union that wouldn’t sit well with either clan but the clans of ninjas themselves are pondering a world of peace when they have been bread to fight in a world of war.  It adds more conflict beyond the simple duel between clans, seeing if Gennosuke and Oboro will stay true to their wish for a different future or if they’ll let their inner killers loose when their friends begin to die off.  Speaking of drop offs, while the film does cut the team numbers significantly from the Basilisk Anime (from teams of 10-12 if I recall, to five each), save for Gennosuke and Oboro and a couple choice others, the rest of the cast is there to show off their sweet ninja skills before leaving by the sword or other means so the story can continue. 

Character development is minimum but if you aren’t here for the love story, you’re here for the action.   And the action is pretty top notch.  The rivers may not flow red with blood like in Ninja Scroll but the action is still a lot of fun with the best moments going to the demonstration of the Iga and Kouga Clans respective capabilities at the Sunpu exhibition; the forest clash between the two warriors on display during that exhibition, man of a million knives Chikuma and hair weapon master Yashamaru; and a late night clash of a squad of ninjas vs Gennosuke and his supernatural abilities.  Some of the CG involved in these fights can be a bit on the hokey side but it’s nothing too groan worthy.

I do think that the ending was drawn out way too long.  What could have maybe been cut in half is stretched out to the point of “why isn’t this over yet?” Is it as bad as Space Battleship Yamato’s “it doesn’t make sense for this to keep going” finale? No, it does feel like the beats matter, it just could have been sped up a little bit.  It’s not a bad finale, especially one pivotal moment that I thought was very well done.  But it could have been shortened and yes, the epilogue really wasn’t needed and it felt just as an extra excuse to shoot some beautiful scenery.  Oh yeah, the cinematography is gorgeous.  This movie feels big and real and in an age where CG sets are needed for just about everything, it’s nice to see a historical setting shot in the open than on a green screen.

I wont say this is the best Romeo and Juliet style take on the doomed lovers tale (that still kind of goes to West Side Story tbh), but Shinobi still delivers on all fronts romance and action.  Expect anything beyond that and gushers of blood and you might be disappointed.  Otherwise take a good look at some of these locales and use them to prep your amazing trip to historical Japan today. 

7.5/10
 

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