By Rachael Bentley

Ninja Assassin is the story of a young boy raised by ninjas to kill political leaders and nosy government officials, a plot that poses an interesting storyline. Raizo, the main character, is played by Rain, South Korea’s version of Justin Timberlake. He did a somewhat decent job of fitting the part and acting out the parts that required emotion.

There are only two female characters in this entire movie, and unfortunately, both were terrible.  The government agent Mika was a very annoying character who ran around like a chicken with its head cut off almost the entire movie.

With the title Ninja Assassin you would expect to see some awesome choreography and detailed fight scenes. However, in this sense Assassin was a major disappointment.  This movie was no Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and while probably no one expected it to be, it still came as a disappointment.

While countless limbs were being cut off and government agents were being slaughtered, I couldn’t wrap my head around some of the plot. There were a lot of loose ends that didn’t really tie together. There was the one heart-wrenching and impacting scene that made the movie not a complete waste of time. And for the women sitting in the theater who don’t enjoy gore, maybe Rain’s muscles were a decent substitute.

But considering this was supposed to be a martial arts movie, I felt like it just didn’t deliver the kick ass fight scenes I paid for and expected to get. There was too much editing and special effects of blood splattering that there didn’t seem to be much real and authentic fighting going on.

This month has had a disappointing turn out of mainstream movies. Ninja Assassin turned out to be as bad as critics said. And no, I don’t believe New Moon was any better of an option. This month’s movie selections made for awkward dates, as girls watching arms flying felt sick, and guys started feeling self conscious while watching  Twilight‘s Jacob flex his biceps.