Ninja vs Shark is a 2023 Japanese martial arts fantasy horror film about an evil cult leader who controls sharks to kill pearl divers.
Directed by Koichi Sakamoto (Girls Blood; Attack of the Yakuza; masses of Power Rangers, Ultraman and Kamen Rider TV series) from a screenplay written by Junichiro Ashiki.
The Remow production stars Kohshu Hirano (Ultraman Z), Shun Nishime (Kamen Rider Ghost), Yuichi Nakamura (Kamen Rider Hibiki; Kamen Rider Den-O), Julia Nagano and Kanon Miyahara (High Kick Angels).
Plot:
In the Edo period, the slaughtered corpses of villagers are found on the beach of remote Okitsu village. To obtain the power of immortality, Togame Shirou (Yuichi Nakamura), the leader of the evil cult Koumashu, uses magic to manipulate sharks to forcibly steal pearls from the villagers.
Frustrated by this situation, the village chief goes to see Kotaro Shiozaki (Koshu Hirano), a bodyguard at a temple on the outskirts of the village, to ask for help. Kotaro accepts the job with a reward, but his path is blocked by a female ninja named Kikuma (Kanon Miyahara).
Along with Shinsuke, who resists the village chief’s attempt to sacrifice a villager, Sayo, to Sameshirou, Kotaro challenges Sameshirou to a battle, but what appears in front of him is a gigantic shark that doesn’t seem like something from this world…
Our review:
You’d expect a movie with this title to contain lots of ninjas and lots of sharks. Or at least one shark that is shown frequently throughout the film. But this movie forgets what its title is for most of the running time, as the ninjas are shown for about fifteen minutes and the shark for about two – and most of that occurs at the end of the film.
So what went wrong? It’s quite a few things. Firstly don’t promise sharks if you aren’t going to deliver until right at the end. The first hour of the film features less than 30 seconds of shark footage, which is mostly just poor CGI composite shots.
Then it’s the digital blood. The bane of many modern movies. The film still uses some practical effects, including some of the classic gore fountains but the rest of the red stuff it’s those blood-effect packs from visual effects websites. If you’ve seen enough films, you’ll probably even recognise the patterns used!
And maybe one of the worst things is the translation of the English subtitles. This movie is supposed to be set in the Edo period, around the 1400s, yet the person subtitling it decided to use modern language and slang terminology, breaking the immersion.
It’s not all bad though. The action scenes are great, with frequent fights that are well choreographed, a decent length and it’s not over-edited! There is also a zombie-like character featured throughout the film who thankfully adds a bit of charm.
Overall, there’s simply not enough of the shark and barely enough ninjas. Lots of action though, yet the downside is all the digital blood effects. Ninja vs Shark is a bit of a mixed bag so I am leaning more towards avoiding this one.
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Other reviews:
” …anyone who can look past the wooden dialogue, the exaggerated acting, the gaps in logic and continuity, and the bottom-shelf effects will be treated to some well-told and lovingly crafted sword & sorcery pulp.” Schokkend Nieuws [translated from Dutch]
“The final culmination of the sharks can be enjoyed depending on how satisfied you are with the ninja fights, with some twist in the script that gives more laughter than impression to the ending of the film proposed by director Koichi Sakamoto, with giant sharks in a very questionable CGI which honestly clashes quite a bit with what we have been seeing on a visual level with things that were even good.” Terror Weekend [translated from Spanish]
“Ultimately how much you’ll enjoy Ninja vs Shark depends on how much the lack of shark matters. In that regard, it’s like a lot of low-budget creature features, but at least this one gives the viewer plenty of action instead of talk while they’re waiting for it to show up.” ★★★ Voices from the Balcony
YouTube reviews:
Trailer:
Release:
In Japan, Ninja vs Shark was released on April 14, 2023. In the US, the movie is available on Blu-ray from Media Blasters via Amazon.com
Original title:
妖獣奇譚 ニンジャVSシャーク
