Line #79 Film/Ninja


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3	'''''Ninja''''' is a 2009 American [[MartialArtsMovie martial arts/action thriller film]] directed by Isaac Florentine and starring Creator/ScottAdkins, Tsuyoshi Ihara and Mika Hijii.
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5	[[TheHero Casey Bowman]] (Scott Adkins) is an American orphan who was adopted into a martial arts dojo in Japan. Because of his perseverance and desire to master bushido, he earns the respect of the dojo's sensei, Takeda, and his daughter Namiko (Mika Hijii). However, the dojo's top student Masazuka (Tsuyoshi Ihara) becomes increasingly bitter over Namiko's friendship with Casey until one morning, during a sparring match, he loses his temper and nearly kills Casey by throwing a katana at him. In defense, Casey scars Masazuka below his right eye. As a result of his actions, Masazuka is banished from the dojo by the sensei.
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7	Years later, Masazuka becomes an [[ProfessionalKiller assassin]] under contract with an American conglomerate called Temple Industries, which itself runs an underground criminal cult known as "The Ring". He returns to his former dojo and claims in vain the sensei's succession as sōke, but the sensei refuses to oblige. Anticipating an invasion by Masazuka, the sensei sends Casey and Namiko to New York to guard an old chest called the Yoroi Bitsu, which contains the suit and weapons of the ninja who started the dojo.
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9	While in New York, Casey and Namiko seek out a friend of Sensei Takeda, Professor Garrison, to help them hide the Yoroi Bitsu. However, they end of becoming framed for the murder of Garrison and are forced to fight off Masazuka and members of the ring as well as trying to avoid the NYPD. Eventually, the duo are brought in to the station for questioning by the police, but while separated, Namiko is kidnapped by Masazuka.
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11	After escaping from the police station, Casey tracks down a contact number for Masazuka and sets up a meeting, ostensibly to exchange the girl for the Yoroi Bitsu. This sets up a [[FinalBattle final showdown]] between Casey and Masazuka.
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13	A sequel ''Ninja: Shadow of a Tear,'' also starring Creator/ScottAdkins was released in 2013.
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17	!! Ninja contains examples of the following tropes:
18	* TheAce: Casey. It's what Creator/ScottAdkins does.
19	* ActionGirl: Namiko, resident bo-staff expert. [[spoiler: She's also pretty good with a bow and arrows.]]
20	* ArchEnemy: Casey Bowman has Masazuka, his RivalTurnedEvil from his student days, who killed their master and wants to take over their ninja clan.
21	* AxCrazy: Masazuka, full stop. Nearly kills Casey the first chance he gets [[spoiler: and slices through his entire dojo to claim the Yaroi Bitsu.]]
22	* BadassInDistress: After being kidnapped by Masakuza, Namiko goes from ActionGirl to one of these. Justified in that her kidnapper is equally trained and better armed.
23	* BlackAndWhiteMorality: Played Straight. Casey is [[{{TheHero}} the hero]] and Masazuka is the villain.
24	* BigBad: Masazuka, rogue student of the Takeda school. Casey has to go through the Ring to get to Masazuka.
25	* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler:The contents of the Yaroi Bitsu are used by Casey in the final fight against Masazuka.]]
26	** Also the reference to how the sword of the ninja can kill but give life as well turns out to be significant. [[spoiler: There's another vial of the antidote for the ninja poison hidden in the sword's hilt, which ends up saving Namiko's life.]]
27	* ConservationOfNinjutsu: {{Mooks}} don't stand a chance, but the [[FightScene fight]] with Masazuka is a good one.
28	* CyberNinja: Masazuka's arsenal is thoroughly modern, including nightvision goggles and submachine guns, but he still prefers his sword. Justified, his services don't come cheap.
29	* DragonWithAnAgenda: An odd heroic example with Casey, who uses his time in New York to search for his missing mother. [[spoiler: She died years ago. Played straighter with Masazuka, who calls in a help from The Ring to help capture the Yaroi Bitsu.]]
30	* DuelToTheDeath: It's Casey vs. Masazuka in the [[{{FinalBattle}} final battle]] with swords and [[spoiler: Masakuza [[OffWithHisHead loses his head]], making it a literal duel to the death]].
31	* EvilInc: Temple Industries, which employs Masazuka to cover up its dirty deeds. The entire Board of Directors is shown to be in on this.
32	* {{Fanservice}}: Casey is introduced practising his ninja skills [[ShirtlessScene while shirtless.]] The fact he's played by the hunk and athletic Creator/ScottAdkins helps a lot.
33	* {{Gorn}}: Yep.
34	* InfoDump: Sensei Takeda explains the history of the [[{{MacGuffin}} Yaroi Bitsu]] via {{inner monologue}} early on in the movie.
35	* ImprovisedWeapon: Namiko improvises a bo staff out of someone's crutches.
36	* JobTitle: It's a movie called ''Ninja'' that centers around a heroic ninja.
37	* KatanasAreJustBetter: Masazuka uses some modern weapons, but in his [[{{DuelToTheDeath}} duel to the death]] with [[{{TheProtagonist}} Casey]] they use katanas.
38	* LadyOfWar: Namiko, given the fact that she is an ActionGirl who favors a bo staff, is not overly sexualized in the movie, and is the daughter of the revered [[OldMaster Takeda]].
39	* LoveInterest: Namiko graduates to Casey's wife in the sequel.
40	* MacGuffin: the Yaroi Bitsu. Justified, as it comes directly down from the founder of the dojo and represents the authenticity of the sensei who possesses it. [[spoiler: Plus, its contents are just as deadly as it was hundreds of years ago.]]
41	* McNinja: Casey. Averted, as he was raised and trained by a legitimate ninja master in Japan.
42	* MartialArtsMovie: In typical Creator/ScottAdkins fashion...flashy, but no wires.
43	* MightyWhitey: Played completely straight. Casey is an American orphaned and raised by a Japanese [[{{OldMaster}} ninja master]]. As such, he is trained in the way of the ninja and eventually, after [[{{Revenge}} avenging]] his master, becomes the [[{{RightfulKingReturns}} dojo's sensei]].
44	* MookHorrorShow: Played absolutely straight when Matsazuka goes on an unstoppable killing spree. May it be the Mafia, the students of his former school, the police, the criminal organization he works for...
45	* MuggedForDisguise: Matsazuka stealthily kills a bespectacled civilian in an airport bathroom, taking his victim's flight tickets, clothes and glasses to sneak his way back to New York.
46	* NightVisionGoggles: Matsazuka puts on one of these in the darkened police station fight scene and the final battle, allowing him to sneak up on faceless extras and kill everyone of them with ease.
47	* {{Ninja}}: Averted...[[{{SarcasmMode}} just kidding]].
48	* OffWithHisHead: [[spoiler: Sensei Takeda is beheaded by Masazuka and Masazuka is beheaded by Casey.]]
49	* OldMaster: Sensei Takeda.
50	* OneWordTitle: It's a film called ''Ninja.''
51	* OpeningScroll: Gives super brief history lesson on ninjas. Establishes [[{{MightyWhitey}} Casey]] as part of an ancient tradition.
52	* PlotArmor: [[{{ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks}} Throwing his sword]] [[{{Aversion}} did not]] work for Masazuka in this movie because Casey was [[{{TheHero}} the hero]].
53	* PoliceAreUseless: Masazuka mops the floor with most of a precinct. Casey and Nanako take a few cops out as well.
54	* PsychoForHire: Masazuka really enjoys his work.
55	* APupilOfMineUntilHeTurnedToEvil: Masazuka, from Sensei Takeda's perspective. He was expelled from Takeda's dojo for his bad behavior.
56	* RageBreakingPoint: Casey generally dispatches the mooks coming after him efficiently and without visible agitation... but when two of them [[spoiler: start beating up Namiko]] he completely flips out and makes absolutely , gruesomely, throw-one-under-the-train-snap-the-other's-neck, certain they are dead.
57	* RailroadTracksOfDoom: The furst assassin Casey fights on the subway gets thrown through the train's windows... heads-first into a second incoming train.
58	* {{Samurai}}: Makes an appearance while Sensei Takeda is {{dreaming of times gone by}} during his early {{info dump}}.
59	* {{Seppuku}}: [[spoiler: Casey decapitating Masazuka]] seems meant to evoke the image.
60	* StockNinjaWeaponry: The Yaroi Bitsu, again. Masazuka uses more modern variations.
61	* SwordFight: Several.
62	* [[{{YouKilledMyFather}} You Killed My Master]]: Sensei Takeda's assassination at the hands of Masazuka is what really gets the plot in motion.
63	* SuperWindowJump: Casey makes one of these through the [[SoftGlass glass]] in the interrogation room at the police station.
64	* YouCantGoHomeAgain: An NYPD detective who took Casey in after the train fight, and whose life the latter saved during Masazuka's rampage at the police station, tells him to leave and never come back after the dust settles.
65	* WouldHitAGirl: {{Mooks}} in the movie have no problem hitting Namiko. Justified because she is a [[ActionGirl ninja]] herself.
66	* ZergRush: The Ring has plenty of Mooks for Casey and Nanako to run through.
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69	!! Ninja: Shadow of A Tear contains examples of the following tropes:
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71	* AssholeVictim: Goro [[spoiler: didn't actually kill Namiko but, being a murderous drug lord, it's fair to say he]] won't be missed by too many people.
72	* BittersweetEnding: Casey finds out the truth behind Namiko's death and kills the person responsible [[spoiler: but that person was Nakabara who Casey clearly knew for a long time and was friendly with; also, in addition to Namiko Lucas, Nakabara's student who idolized Casey, was also the victim of his sensei's scheme to frame Goro]]. The last scene of the film is Casey dropping the medallion he bought for Namiko into a pond where she told him she was pregnant and walking away towards uncertain future.
73	* BrokenPedestal: Casey hits this after [[BerserkButton losing his temper]] while sparring with a young student who had met and idolized him before.
74	** [[spoiler: Nakabara]] hits it in the third act after Casey realizes [[spoiler: he was the one who killed Namiko to get Casey to eliminate a rival drug dealer]].
75	* EliteMooks: Casey slaughters [[Main/{{Mooks}} Goro's soldiers with ease]], but the one played by Tim Man (the fight choreographer) gives him a good run for his money.
76	* DeathGlare: Casey unleashes a couple when he's about to throw down.
77	* DressingAsTheEnemy: Casey infiltrates an enemy camp by disguising himself as one of their soldiers, before leaving behind a grenade on a propane tank killing around ten enemies by surprise.
78	* TheLostLenore: Namiko, who is now Casey's wife and pregnant with his child, [[SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome dies unceremoniously early in the sequel]], triggering Casey's RoaringRampageOfRevenge.
79	* MadeOfIron: At one point Casey is tortured by Myanmar police by having hot iron applied to his lower leg, resulting in a pretty sever burn. The burn slows him down not at all.
80	* RagnarokProofing: Not as extreme an example as some, but supplies buried during the 1940s are still usable in the 2010s.
81	* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Casey's wife and unborn child are killed by ninjas. Casey, also a ninja, takes revenge.
82	* ShirtlessScene: There's...quite a few.
83	* TortureIsIneffective: The Myanmar police torture Casey with hot irons on his feet and legs, unaware that his ninja training allows him to walk over hot coals.
84	* WackyCravings: Namiko's is for chocolate...and seaweed.
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86	* WickedCultured: Goro is a pretty contemplative sort for a vicious crime lord. He even quotes a poem by Matsuo Bashō [[spoiler: moments before facing Casey in a duel]]:
87	---> Summer grass/All that remains/Of a soldier's dreams.
88	* XMarksTheSpot: The Japanese buried caches of ninja gear and weaponry in certain cemetaries in Burma during WWII.

Context Film / Ninja