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Weakness compels strength, betrayer begets blood; this is the Law of the Nine Clans.
Ah, yes. This film was surprisingly good, and I have to credit Rain for being able to ease away from his Korean pop singing forte and land a starring role in a Hollywood film. Most of the actors are Oriental (well, what do you expect from a film which involves ninjas?), but the setting is far from China, Japan, or other Asian countries.
Raizo (Rain) is brought into a life which honours strength, physical endurance, and other mystical powers, while at the same time condones weakness and swears off betrayal. He is one of the most lethal assassins in the entire world, and he used to be part of the Ozuna Clan, where he was trained since he was young. He turned his back on his clan when they killed the girl he loved, Kiriko (Sawai), after she tried to escape. Now, he is constantly haunted by memories of his bloody and violent past, which eventually catches up to him when he saves the life of forensic researcher Mika Coretti (Harris), who has accidentally stumbled upon the existence of the Ozuna Clan. Now, she is being hunted by literally hundreds of ninja assassins, and Raizo is the only person standing between her and an early and bloody death.
Excellent fight scenes, and although the blood was a wee bit over the top, somehow it didn't bother me as much. Well, for starters, it looked too fake to be real, as the blood spurts and the extreme fluidity of the blood showed it to be a red dye mixture. In terms of the action... wow. Definitely wow. Although I felt that Harris didn't have a strong character unlike her previous films (such as 20 Days Later and the Pirates films), she was somewhat a good sidekick/damsel in distress in the film. Favorite scenes would be the final showdown between Raizo and Ozunu, as well as the slaughter at the start of the movie.
