U.S. Army Captain Frank Dux (Jean-Claude Van Damme) goes absent without leave after traveling to Hong Kong following an invitation to the Kumite, a clandestine, highly violent martial arts tournament held within the Chinese underworld, open only to the world's most lethal warriors.
This Valentine’s Day, Oscar® winner Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All at Once, Loki) rockets into his first major leading man role as an unlikely hero, a seemingly mild-mannered realtor with a dark secret that he is desperate to leave behind. Spoiler alert: He won’t.
From 87North—producers of the groundbreaking action films Nobody, Violent Night, Bullet Train, Atomic Blonde and The Fall Guy—comes a visceral, high-octane story of wrath and revenge.
Quan stars as Marvin Gable, a realtor working the Milwaukee suburbs, where ‘For Sale’ signs bloom. Gable receives a crimson envelope from Rose (Oscar® winner Ariana DeBose; West Side Story, Argylle), a former partner-in-crime that he had left for dead. She’s not happy.
Martial arts student Leroy Green (Taimak) is on a quest to obtain the elusive all-powerful force known as “The Glow.” Along the way, he must battle the evil, self-proclaimed “Shogun of Harlem” – a kung fu warrior also known as Sho’nuff (Julius J. Carry III) – and rescue a beautiful singer (Prince protégée Vanity) from an obsessed record promoter. Combining pulsating music, cutting-edge dancing and the best in non-stop action, BERRY GORDY’S THE LAST DRAGON is kickin’ good fun featuring an amazing Motown soundtrack, including music by Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, Vanity and DeBarge performing their smash hit “Rhythm of the Night.”
They've got Transformers, Adventure Time, DC Comics Heroes and Hello Kitty, so the ultimate master of the martial arts is a no-brainer, right? Show off your love for the man who changed the world as we know it with the newest creation from Mimoco...
You know what the hardest thing is when I'm pretend fighting imaginary ninjas? The sound effects. Those KI YA sounds have to come right from the gut to sound convincing...and don't even get me started on the wide array of Bruce Lee attack noises. On top of that, you have the added anxiety of creating convincing sounds to accompany your blazing fist of justice and demon lightning foot!! Now, one company seeks to take that pressure off of you.
Back into Toy Fair 2012 coverage with a run down of all Bandai is dishing out for Power Rangers this year! It's been a tough fight, but your favorite skittles colored Kung Fu kids are back on top and they look to keep that spot for the foreseeable future, starting with this year's Super Samurai theme! This expands on last year's Samurai theme, allowing kids already familiar with the previous show to continue the adventure along with familiar characters and power sets rather than throw them into a new forest or space theme that would force them to start all over again. Bandai, as always, are offering a wide array of toys and role play items to meet the demand for this eternally awesome brand.
Power Rangers 2 inch Mini Battle Figures 6 pack : Super Deformed figures inspired by the Power Rangers mobile app game on iTunes. SRP: $19.99
Power Rangers 4 inch Action Figures : The Rangers clothing and battle gear reveals different levels of power taken on in the TV show. Super Mega Modes and Shogun Modes will both be reflected in this figure line!
Power Rangers 6.5 inch Morphin Figures : The Power Rangers Battle Morphin Figure is ready to protect earth from evil! Keep villains away by unlocking a cool “morph” feature using a joy stick featured on the back of the figure. Utilizing cool toy technology this superhero is posed with unique battle gear ready for training or battle. Place your thumb on the back of the figure in the joy stick dial and wield the Ranger’s weapon with complete control in any direction! As seen in the TV series, this weapon action enables the Rangers to protect earth, and now you can practice training moves with your own Ranger! Available in 4 Ranger colors this Fall! SRP: $12.99
Power Rangers 12 inch Shogun Figures : 3 ways to play - Mega Mode..add all 14 pieces of Shogun Ranger Armor for a second mode and then pose him his final Ultimate Shogun Mode. SRP: $24.99
Power Rangers Sword Cycle with Figure : Put your Power Rangers Sword Cycle in motion to race to anywhere evil lurks, in style! The Samurai inspired translucent swords on the Cycle can detach. Collect the 4-inch Power Ranger figures (each sold separately) and attach the swords onto their hands. For added power collect and combine the Sword Cycle with multiple items in the ZordBuilder Collection (each sold separately): the Samurai Megazord or Transporter Vehicle (#31575 and #31560, respectively). Kids can enjoy their own unique Megazord to blast away evil! Collect them all! YAY..Motorcycles for hands!! SRP: $10.99
Tiger Tank with Figure : Transform into tank, Zord and missile launch. Said missile shoots 6 feet! Comes with a Stealth Samurai Ranger 4 inch figure. SRP: $24.99
ZordBuilder Collection : Historically, one of the most unique and compelling features of the Power Rangers line has been and continues to be, our ZordBuilder collection. Construction is an aggressively growing segment, but traditional construction sets can be so square. Bandai has fused action and construction to deliver a creative play-pattern that allows kids to build 18 show-accurate Zords and Megazords or an infinite number of their own Zord creations and extend the Power Ranger play experience.
Ranger Masks : Sturdy masks with comfortable padding inside as not to squish your tender face bits. These come in Pink, Blue, Red, Green and Gold. SRP: $9.99
Power Rangers Battle Gear : The Barracuda Blade features light up elements and a sheath that can attach and detach with the press of a button. The disk element is back and will be offered across the role play weapon lines, allowing your lil Ranger to power up before battle. SRP: $14.99 The Black Box Morpher (in stores now) which features swap out displays to communicate with the Rangers and phrases from the show. There is also a light feature on top, allowing you to write out your kanji symbol in the air and Morph into battle...or pretend to, depending on the limits of your crazy brains. The Deluxe Hand Gear comes in the Red Ranger's Mega Mode form and includes wrist bands with motion sensor technology that activates sounds when you karate chop your little sister. SRP: $24.99
Power Rangers Deluxe Battle Gear : Unleash the Power of the Super Samurai Ranger with the Bullzooka! Multiple battle sounds (activated by pulling the trigger or activating the super disk) allow kids to reenact their favorite action where good prevails over evil! This gear has distinctive morph features to replicate the morph sequences seen in the TV Series. Collect the Spin Sword and Black Box Morpher (each sold separately) to make this the Super Bullzooka. Or collect the Mega Blade sword (sold separately) to combine and create the ultimate Shogun Spear! SRP: $29.99 . They also had the Shogun Buckle (my favorite) on display that shifts modes with the addition of those disks. We asked if they give thought to those "larger children" (wink wink) who will want to rock the Shogun Buckle and were told it is for kids, so you're on your own in making this bad boy fit!
NINJAAAAAAAA!! The word alone brought a giant smile to my face as a child. Back in my day (aka: I’m old), you could go down to the local magazine shop and buy throwing stars, daggers and any number of ninja-tastic weapons. It was THAT big. Now, Warner Brothers is hoping we are so bored of remakes and romantic comedies that we’ll open our hearts to the unbridled carnage offered by a modern martial arts kill-fest. They were right. The plot of Ninja Assassin couldn’t even fill out the side of a milk carton. Police researcher Mika has stumbled onto a connection between ancient tales of dark ninja deeds and a recent pay off to a clandestine organization preceding bloody mayhem. In the time it would take you to throw down a smoke bomb, the ninja are after her. Luckily, one of their brethren had cut ties with his clan and comes to her aid. Now it’s Mika and the renegade ninja Raizo against a never-ending tsunami of masked super assassins! If that alone hasn’t done it for you, you have absolutely no need to see this movie. Those of us sold merely on the words “ninja” and “carnage” are already lined up.
Martial Arts are the name of the game and Ninja Assassin plays it better than most. I haven’t seen jaw dropping moves like this in a very…very long time! Sure, a lot of it may be CGI and wire work, but doing all your own stunts doesn’t necessarily blow me out of my seat at all times. Remember “The Protector”? This was a love story between a man and his elephant and no amount of stunt work could save it. Assassin excels in believability amid the impossible. Throwing stars fly like bullets cutting through man, automobile and sometimes, it seems, even walls. The ninja sword hisses as it sails, uninterrupted, through flesh and bone, leaving a sticky wet pile in its wake. Standing defiantly is Raizo and his chained blade weapon which he wields like a fisher of men; lashing out and then pulling back a human skull. The ninja
step out of flat shadow like vengeful spirits. They move in a streak and scale walls like hideous black spiders. There is no such thing as too much screen time for these warriors, and when they go toe to toe with Raizo, you are in for something special! Even John Rambo would hand over his headband to this guy. Just when you thought you were at the height of ninja glee, the movie tosses in one more element. A well armed special ops police force!! 200 swords vs 500,000 bullets. FIGHT!!!
While it’s clear why people will come see this film, it is still worth mentioning that the acting performances are very impressive. Ninja Assassin COULD have been an oddly dubbed, overly dramatic, badly acted 
the job and pulled it off fantastically. Weather that is testament to the stunt men or fight choreographers or cinematographer...hell...give them all gold stars. It all comes together on screen in the most mind blowing fight scenes I’ve seen in years. For the old-schoolers like me, you’ve even got Sho Kosugi as the leader of the ninja clan. PERFECTION!
Only two elements keep Ninja Assasin from attaining the EPIC status. One is a thorn in the side of most horror fiends reading this. CGI BLOOD! CGI blood is still at least a couple of years away from looking flawless, and with so much of it splashing across the set of this film, it is painfully obvious. The second flaw lies in the ninja themselves. The film kicks off with the clan shrouded in mystery, fading in and out of shadow, cutting men to pieces. Next, we have to sit through the origin story of Raizo and his clan, which is fine when you get to watch 9 year olds beating each other bloody. It’s like baby fight club. When we get back to the ninja action, the warriors are more man than wraith and even do this sort of Jason Voorhees whisper as they approach a target. NOT creepy at all. It’s a problem as old as movies are a
s an art form. Keep your monster in the shadows as much as possible and you can raise the tension significantly. Put them in the light and give them a cheesy gimmick and you are treading on dangerous ground. Luckily, the film is still packed with bad ass, including a fight scene which takes place IN heavy traffic and all our WAR in the film’s final scenes. You can either look at this as a live action film with anime pacing and cartoony blood…or the most realistic anime anyone has ever made. If this were an animated film, with all that action jammed into it, you’d be clapping every 15 minutes.
Ninja Assassin is the kick in the ass we’ve needed in the theater, and a shockingly welcome bloodbath amid this holiday season! If you were a fan of martial arts films growing up, get out to your local theater as soon as possible and feel like a kid again. The men in black are back…and I can’t wait for more!
