NINJA SCROLL
Review by John Beachem
* * * * *
Directed by: Yoshiaki Kawajiri Written by: Yoshiaki Kawajiri
On a storm filled night in feudal Japan, the eight devils of Kimon ride into a small village, apparently bringing a plague with them. The devils are elite mercenaries, each with a special and unique power (one controls bees, one electricity, etc.). When all the villagers are killed, the local lord sends twenty ninja to investigate the event. They are all wiped out by one of the devils, save Kagero, the poison tester. She alone survives and is saved by Jubei, a wandering Ninja for hire. Now Jubei and Kagero have called the wrath of the devils down upon them, and the only way to survive will be to team up with a government spy named Dakuan. The three must travel to the plague filled village, find out who is behind the deaths, and stop them. Along the way they will be challenged by the eight devils and a legion of ninja, all led by an enemy from Jubei's past.
I know that's a short plot summary, but I don't want to give anything else away. It wouldn't take much to convince me that Yoshiaki Kawajiri's ("Wicked City") "Ninja Scroll" is the greatest anime (Japanese animation) ever created. Granted, I haven't seen a great many anime; I haven't even seen the much discussed "Princess Monoke"; but of the two dozen or so I've seen, nothing has even come close to the magnificence of "Ninja Scroll". A lot of what makes the film so great is that Kawajiri puts more effort and detail into his animated characters than most Hollywood directors put into their live ones. This effort, combined with incredible animation, an intriguing story, and some of the best action scenes ever (animated or otherwise) make "Ninja Scroll" one of, if not the best action movie of the past decade. Yet despite all the praise I heap on this wonderful movie, the sad fact of the matter is I can't do it justice. You'll have to see it for yourself to fully appreciate the film. However, be forewarned, this isn't a movie for everyone. "Ninja Scroll" is graphic in both sexual matters and carnage. If you don't feel you can handle these elements, steer clear.
Normally I'd devote this paragraph to a critique of the acting, but there obviously is none in "Ninja Scroll". Instead, I'm going to briefly discuss a few of the characters, and what makes them so interesting. I'll start with Jubei, one of the most carefully crafted and interesting action heroes ever to grace the screen. Jubei is made so interesting because he isn't exactly your classic hero. He's a mercenary ninja, working for the highest bidder. Does that mean he has no honor? Quite the opposite actually. Don't get it into your mind that Jubei is some invincible, shadowy figure; moving across Japan destroying evil with the flick of a wrist. He's good, but he's not indestructible. He gets pasted in a few fights, knocked around, bloodied, bruised, and occasionally only winning through luck or the intervention of someone else. Does this make him less of a hero? No, it makes him more of one because it makes him more human. Jubei feels pain and anguish, and he's so eloquently crafted that we start to believe he's really feeling these emotions and isn't just some animated character. Take, for example, a scene in which Jubei is recovering from fighting one of the devils. He is in a pond, cleaning his wounds. He pulls a tooth out, washes blood out of his mouth, and generally looks a mess. In your typical action film the hero takes a beating and is ready to go in five minutes. You never see Hollywood action heroes nursing their wounds, because they're invincible.
Kagero, the proud female ninja could easily have been nothing more than a caricature, but Kawajiri never allows this to happen. She's brash, head-strong, and always seems to have something to prove, but these attributes never feel like cliches. They feel more like a shield she puts up, and it occasionally breaks down. There's a scene where a massive demon of Kimon flings her into a hut, begins to rape her, and is interrupted by Jubei. After the rescue, Kagero acts like nothing happened, brushes Jubei off, and leaves to continue her mission. Yet once Jubei's back is turned she suddenly snaps as the full force of what just happened hits her like a ton of bricks. It's a great, moving scene; made even better by the fact that even though we've just met her, we already care about Kagero. Finally we have Dakuan, the old spy. Dakuan is mainly used for comic relief, but what a great comic character he is. I particularly loved a scene where he displays his own special ability, and one where Jubei leaves him to search for Kagero. He gets a great little speech in the latter about becoming a monster to fight one.
Obviously one of the most important elements to a movie like "Ninja Scroll" is the animation quality, and I assure you this movie possesses the very best. The animation is so crisp, so realistic, that you'll want to re-watch it once with the sound off so you can focus entirely on the film's beauty. I'm not just talking about how well the characters are drawn either. There are scenes where the backgrounds are so well drawn you'd swear this was real life. Scenes that stand out in my mind are one where Jubei climbs a cliff to get a better look at the area; an early fight on a wooden bridge right before a storm; and two characters talking in a marsh, surrounded by fireflies. It's too bad animated films can't win awards for cinematography. The fights are just as perfectly constructed. There's one at the start of the film, between a group of ninja and one of the devil of Kimon where they spot him, and fling a horde of throwing stars at him. Kawajiri actually shows each individual star slamming into the trees, and each star's strike looks different from the others (I know, I sat there and examined them).
So, now that I've raved about it for some time, you're no doubt wondering if "Ninja Scroll" is perfect. I'm afraid not, but the only flaw I can think of is that it's just a little too short. This causes a few of the scenes to feel a bit rushed. For example, a brilliant sword fight in a bamboo forest between Jubei and a blind warrior would have been even better if it hadn't been only a minute long. Despite that, there are two things which elevate "Ninja Scroll" above almost every other animated film I've ever seen. One is Kawajiri's attention to detail, the other is his labyrinth of a story. I never really took notice of his attention to detail till the last time I saw the film and noticed something interesting. In one scene, Jubei's shirt gets cut on the sleeve by one of the devils of Kimon. In all future scenes, Kawajiri makes certain that cut is always present on the same sleeve, and that it's the same size cut. His script is full of surprises, including characters dying when you don't expect them to and people turning out not to be who you thought they were. The movie runs a quick 94 minutes, and I do wish it had been made longer. Oh well, can't have everything. I'd recommend "Ninja Scroll" to any fan of anime, but make sure you get an uncut, subtitled version (the dubbed version is terrible; Jubei sounds like Captain America). I give it a full five out of five stars.
Comments? Send to: johnbeachem@dependentfilms.net
Past reviews can be found at: http://www.epinions.com/user-elerad or http://us.imdb.com/ReviewsBy?John+Beachem
* * * * * - One of the best movies of the year. * * * * - Great flick, try and catch this one. * * * - Okay movie, hits and misses. * * - Pretty bad, see it at your own risk. * - See this one only if you enjoy pain.
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