V for Vendetta

"'Ninja Assassin 2' will be in 3D with Sprayarama," director James McTeigue joked before the premiere of the first and so far only "Ninja Assassin" at the Alamo Drafthouse on Tuesday. And there were copious amounts of blood sputtered in the film that followed, a gory but too often creatively bloodless affair that stars Korean pop star Rain as Raizo, a warrior trained from birth in the ninja way before turning against his clan after the death of a female colleague.
How you'll feel about "Ninja Assassin" will depend on your inherent interest in the masked men (and in this equal opportunity film, women) -- throwing stars and bone-crushing punches can atone for cheesy dialogue, but McTeigue makes the curious decision to shoot most of the action in the dark, and the performances are half-hearted. (While a physical marvel, Rain is hamstrung by having to speak in English, though »
- Stephen Saito

Read the full article on ifc.com

As part of the 53rd London Film Festival the BFI will be making John Hurt its latest Fellow, according to the BBC.
Hurt has acted in over 150 film and TV productions, from the fuzzy black and white of early UK tv series to the biggest Hollywood blockbusters of the day, he is an outstanding actor who brings a sublime, gentle energy to each role. From his iconic turn in The Naked Civil Servant to the role of Mr Ollivander in the Harry Potter films, every role is as unique as the last. That the BFI have chosen to single out one of our finest actors is testament to the quality of his work.
Coincidentally I watched Hurt suffer a heart stopping Heimlich in Ridley Scott’s Alien last night and am now watching the 1997 Robert Zemeckis film Contact, in which Hurt plays a billionaire philanthropist with cosmic ambitions. In both films he steals every scene, »
- Jon Lyus

Read the full article on heyuguys.co.uk

Ninjas used to be scarier. In the B-movies of the 1970s, the ninja was a mysterious and occult figure, cold and soulless, that was to be overcome by the likes of Chuck Norris.
But in the past thirty years, the ninja has become commodified. Chris Farley's Beverly Hills Ninja and the Ask a Ninja Web site are clever, but they are evidence that the ninja has become a joke.
Producers Andy and Larry Wachowski and director James McTeigue are trying to reappropriate the ninja character in Ninja Assassin. Starring Rain — who appeared in Speed Racer, also from the Wachowskis —  the film is both an attempt to put the fearsomeness back into the ninja, as well as an homage to those B-movies that made the ninja so iconic to western audiences.
And it almost works.
In Ninja Assassin the ninja is something to be feared. They are ghost-like, literally disappearing »

Read the full article on cinemaspy.ca