Bi yourself topic #6.
One of the criticisms of Rain’s performance in NINJA ASSASSIN is that his acting was too lukewarm. That “Raizo” was emotionless and unaffected, and somewhat dry, and needed to be more expressive. We are completely thrown by this because:
1. Raizo was stolen from his parents before the age of ten and was told that they had abandoned him
2. For years, he was punished for any mental or physical weakness
3. For years, he was taught to bear horrific pain with only his mind and his chi
4. For years, he had any display of emotions and any failures beaten out of him
5. He had to watch the only girl he ever loved executed, and not make a sound
6. For years, he was taught to blend in with any landscape or shadow and not stand out
7. For years, he was taught never to speak without permission
8. For years, he was molded and shaped into a killer from hell that was not a human being
So Rain, an eight-year veteran actor, reads the script, takes direction from McTeigue, and portrays “Raizo” as a calm, silent, lonely, emotionally-stunted assassin who only speaks in short clips if at all, and whose only professional flaw is his simmering anger for Ozunu-sama just under the surface. But critics are yammering away because “Raizo” wasn’t all dramatic and bursting with emotion. What? Seriously? What are you people thinking?
And what do you think, fans?
— Stephe ^@@^
Cloud USA 
i just want to add to Terri….i have been a martial art lover for about 20 yrs. i was enthused because i really wanted to see where McTeigh was going to take this film. i had no doubt Rain would carry this film masterfully, but, i have to say he surpassed what i expected and McTeigh did a fab. job on this film. he and Rain really did take ninjas to the next level.
folks complained about “so much blood”, but really, did they even pay attention to the type of weapons that were used? had there been a little blood or not as visable, they would have detailed each of those weapons and complained “Not enough blood”…i just believe that the critics did not do their homework about Rain or the film. but what truly amazed me was that, regardless of what paper i read, from State to State they almost said and used the exact same wording. had me wondering if they all got together and did a video conference, hahaha
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Those critics usually either don’t see the film or already biased, obviously they have not seen BI’s other work to know what a great actor he is, obviously they did not understand the role BI had to play…just ignorant of the craft,they shoulg go into a different line of work
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These kinds of comments bug me to no end. They really do. And what irritates me the most is that, in this case, they are simply dead WRONG.
For a ninja, Rain (as Raizo) shows an AMAZING amount of emotion in EVERY SINGLE SCENE in which he appears.
There’s suspicion in his eyes when the woman in the laundromat asks him to help her with the sheet. His lips twitch with nervousness and irritation when his landlady tells him she went into his apartment. (He has sunglasses on, so you can’t see his eyes, but frankly, you don’t have to. Yes, Rain is THAT good.)
Pain and torture cross his face before (and during) every single flashback scene in which he is forced to witness or to do something horrific. The scene in the bathroom with Kingpin is one of the best “assassination gone wrong” scenes I’ve EVER seen–and one of the most painful. The horror in Raizo’s eyes afterward is haunting. And in the subsequent scene, where he finally makes a decision about the clan, the determination on his face is crystal clear.
Fear flits across his face during the action sequences, especially whenever he finds himself having to protect Mika. There’s even laughter (and yes okay, Katie–sex) in his voice when Mika arrives in time to save him. And when he believes Ozunu has killed her, he literally shouts in terror.
Come on, reviewers. Did you even WATCH this movie? Did you even make an ATTEMPT here? Wait. Let me answer that for you, so you don’t have to strain your only brain cell: NO, YOU DID NOT.
It absolutely amazes me that after showing incredible range in such a restrictive role as Raizo (which let me remind everyone is the hero of an ACTION film), people are still criticizing his acting rather than commending him on his work.
Here’s an idea. Just STOP writing movie reviews and get a day job, would ya? Huh? Huh? Pretty please?
Thanks.
Terri :-}
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