BEVERLY HILLS NINJA 1997
A film review by Timothy Voon
Copyright 1997 Timothy Voon
1 :-( for the great white ninja
Cast: Chris Farley, Robin Shou, Nicollette Sheridan, Chris Rock, Soon Tek-Oh, Nathaniel Parker Director: Dennis Dugan Producers: Brad Krevoy, Steve Stabler, Bran Jenkel Screenplay: Mark Feldberg & Mitch Klebanoff
Fat is not necessarily funny, and this movie carries ill proportions of both. Chris Farley, a relative unknown quantity in films, carries the weight of his medium like a naive virgin. He is "The Great White Hope", the fulfilment of an ancient prophecy - a white child will be found adrift the shores of Japan, and he will become the greatest ninja of his generation. Myth becomes farce, as babe becomes man. This is perhaps where the prophecy should end, before the "Great White Ninja" makes a "Big Fat Fool" of himself.
Wherever Farley treads, disaster follows. Almost every scene is awash with disaster being caused by Farley, or being heaped on Farley. There's something sickly and amusing about watching this accident-prone babe in arms look ridiculously clumsy on screen. His earnest and sincere actions, make his attempts at humour grow along the accidental sort. Sabotage and stealth are his tools, and chaos is both a friend and foe.
Unfortunately, the end result of this single dimensional joke is watching Humpty Dumpty fall down, over and over again. Although certain scenes are idiosyncratically hilarious, it becomes difficult to sustain an entire movie on such lean humour. Not everybody will appreciate this comedy of excessive clumsiness when lame only becomes lamer. "The Great White Ninja" will not win the hearts of an audience, by simply twirling a couple of num-chukas about and hoping it will somehow crack a skull or two.
Timothy Voon e-mail: stirling@netlink.com.au
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