Textual Analysis (Ninja Assassin)

Ninja Assassins

“Raizo (Rain) is one of the deadliest assassins in the world. Taken from the streets as a child, he was transformed into a trained killer by the Ozunu Clan, a secret society whose very existence is considered a myth. Haunted by the execution of his friend by the Clan, Raizo breaks free from them and prepares to exact his revenge.”

Released: 2009 November

Director: James Mc Teigue

Horror | Crime | Action | 

Equilibrium:

Ninja Assassins starts out with an old Asian bald man who is wearing a traditional vest coat, tattooing younger mans back. He is a contrast against the older man because he appears to be very young with spiked hair and tattoos on his body. There are men and women lounging around and walking about in a huge warehouse, playing pool, smoking and drinking. The older Asian guy accidently hurts the younger man and he exclaims, “Watch it old guy!” The older man then gives a calm subtle speech to the younger guy. He then took it as disrespect so he held a gun to the older guy’s face. Within this whole beginning we do not discover the names of the characters, they all remain anonymous.  Not knowing the characters in the opening scene, shows us that they are not important and they may die.

Disruption:

The disruption begins when one of the men that were lounging around opens the door with a sealed letter in his hand. He disrupts the younger guy from getting his tattoo done and suggests that the he should open it right away. The guy then breaks the seal and opens the letter to find pure black sand in it. He pours it out and says “It looks like black sand” The older guy gave a low soft cry and exclaiming “No!” and then dropped the needle for the tattoo to the ground, splattering with red ink. The red ink dropping to the floor and creating a splatter, was to show to the audience that something is about to happen. The fact that the ink was red and it flowed out the tattoo pen symbolises blood, pain, murder and so on. This was just a warning to the audience to show that someone is about to die and it’s going to get violent and dangerous.

New Equilibrium:

After fighting with his previous Master and being wounded badly, Raizo, the Ninja lifts Mica, his trusted friend, and walks out the burning building with her in his hands. After Mica had been tended to, Raizo is back at the wreckage, cutting a stem of a plant. He looks up to a tall wall, and then he climbed it until he reached to the top. He stood up at the edge of the wall and looked beyond into hills and mountains.

The narrative structure of this movie is not typical of an action movie. A stereo typical action movie begins with an equilibrium that continues on with the story line. Ninja Assassins began with a narrative separate from the main storyline. This was done to give meaning to some of the scenes throughout the movie. After the disruption, the old man explains what was about to happen and why he survived before. Near the end of the movie, one of the main characters, Mica, was attacked the same way as the old man did, but survived for the same reason.

The first scene of the movie was symbolic to what was about to happen in the entire movie. This was done so that the audience can understand the actions of the Ninja Assassin, and so that the rest of the movie would make sense over all. Also by doing this, the audience is not left in suspense and are at the edge of their seats from the beginning of the movie. This prepares the audience for what is about to happen throughout the film.

Black sand was used as a warning in the film. This meant that the Ninja’s were approaching and was going to kill you. They used black sand because the colour black relates to death, Night time and shadows. Whilst explaining what was about to happen to the younger men, the old guy said, “...and then he came from the shadows” The black sand symbolised the Ninja approaching and he would possibly be coming out of the shadows. Also, using sand connotes that time may be running out, because sand is used in hourglass’s which count down time. This shows that the time is up for those who receive that letter.

The new equilibrium is very typical of its genre. The Ninja, Raizo, seeks revenge on his master that killed the one person that thought him of love. He defeated every Ninja that stood in his way until he found his Master. It almost seemed as though Raizo was defeated by his Master, but rose up from his weakness and defeated his Master once and for all. The fact that it seemed as though Raizo was about to be defeated, was done to bring the audience to the edge of their seat. They wanted the audience to become anxious and raise hope for him not to be defeated. This was done also to fool the audience into thinking that the one and only good Ninja was about to die, so that the movie becomes instantly interesting, because you are left in suspense to what is about to happen. 

The main character is the ninja; he is represented as a ninja, from his costume and body language. He is dressed in all black, and his face is wrapped up hiding his identity and only revealing his eyes. He doesn’t speak at all, but speaks through his body language. He is represented in a typical way because ninja’s in past films for example, Revenge of the Ninja, always dress up in black attire and remains anonymous. His body language as well showed that he was a ninja because he moved swiftly, fast and awkwardly in different positions. He walked like different animals as if he was a tiger or a gorilla, which are some of the strongest animals in the jungle, making him seem like the strongest person in the room. This is typical to the genre because in Ninja movies you would expect for there to be Ninja’s. The Ninja in this film is represented typically, and what happens in the scene is typical for the genre because typical thrillers you expect, killing and suspense and Ninja Assassin show these features within it. 

Naomie Harris, who plays Mika a forensic researcher, is represented as an average working woman. She wears plain t-shirts and black suits, which represents her status and personality in the film. This was done to show her normality and her vulnerability. Her character has no skills and as seen throughout the movie, she is unable to defend herself properly. This is a representation of women because women are stereo typically seen to be weaker and less superior to men, when it comes to defending themselves. The man is always the hero and the woman is the victim. One example of a film that goes against this stereo type, is ‘Salt’ the woman is the hero and the male characters are the victims. Her body language in some scenes helps to show her vulnerability and to add to the representation of women. This is typical of the genre because is most Action movies the male is the hero and the female is saved by the male. For example, ‘The Clash of the Titans’

Typical mise-en-scene was used to make the film. The setting of the first scene was based in a warehouse, where there were a lot of people, playing games and drinking. Asian men were armed with guns and weapons. This showed that they were Asian gangsters because typical Asian gangsters in other movies such as; ‘Year of the dragon’, carry around with them guns and wear traditional wear. The lighting was dim at first and then became completely dark when the ninja had arrived in the scene. It added suspense to the sequence because you could not see the Ninja anywhere, yet everyone was dying one by one. The facial expressions by the younger guy, when he saw what was happening were, scared, shocked and regretful. He looked terrified for his life and had tried to bargain for his life. He kept looking up and pointing towards the ceiling with his gun, realising he was no longer in control because he could not see who or what it was, and it was higher than him. 

Sounds used in the film were intense and dramatic. Scenes where Raizo would be practicing his skills with his weapons in his apartment were enhancing to create a bigger effect on the audience. You were able to hear the blades of his swords cut through the air. This was done so that the audience could have an understanding of how sharp the swords were, So that each time someone got stabbed or hurt by the swords, the audience would understand the impact. In the fighting scene, there were non diegetic sounds in the fighting scenes with Raizo and the other Ninja’s. This was done to increase the intensity of the scene.

Camera angles are used in many ways in Ninja Assassin. There are a huge range from extreme close ups, high angles shots, long shots, two shots and a lot more. Close ups and extreme close ups were used to allow the audience to see the emotion in the characters face, and for a possibility that they might relate in some way. Long shots were used to show the body language of the characters, for example, in the fighting scene where Razio was fight against his Master, in order to see the full impact of the fighting stunts and moves, a Long shot was needed. 

Editing was used throughout the entire film. There were fades, straight cuts, and special effects in Ninja Assassin. In the last scene of the film, a fade was use to symbolise a new day, and a way to connote that time has passed and it is another day. When Raizo was practicing with his weapons, ,sound effects were added by editing the motions of the blades to match with the sound. Also, in the final fight scene between Raizo and his Master, Raizo swiftly disappeared in mid air, and ended up behind his Master. This was done using editing techniques. They are useful to the film, because it is a typical convention of action films such as this.

Ninja Assassin is about an orphaned child that was haunted by the execution of his friend at a young age. He escapes and then seeks revenge.  The theme of this movie is society vs criminal. Raizo teams up with the police in order to get help finding his arch enemy, his Master. He fought the Ninja’s off from attacking people that were with the police. This means that he is now a good guy in the film, only seeking out his revenge. 

 Analysis of 2-3 minutes when Raizo fights against his Master.

This is a low angle shot of Raizo walking to find his Master. It is a clip rein acted from his child hood, so that's why there is an emphasis on showing his feet. There were only diegetic sound in this scene of foot steps and fire burning all around him.A low key lighting was used here to create a shadow effect, making Raizo seem mysterious.

This is an over shoulder shot of Razio, approaching his Master. The low key lighting still remains to create the shadow effect, because the Ninja's are best in the shadows. The over shoulder shot allows us to view the opponents body language to see if they're scared of very confident. Very low diegetic music is used in this scene so that you can hear the both characters speaking.

This is an extreme close up of Raizo battling against his Master. This close up was used so that you can see the state his face was in. His hair is dripping of sweat down in front of his eyes, there's blood all over him, and yet he still is standing ready to fight. The close up emphasises also on the emotions Raizo may be feeling.






This long shot of both characters fighting, was do so that the audience was about to view all the actions and the fight moves. The fire in the background symbolises passion, and both characters are fighting for it, but just only one 












The prop used here is a sword and it is relevant to the film because in typical action films, the victim and the villain both have weapons. In this case it is a very sharp sword. This is a close up and a out of focus pool shot. The sword is in focus so that the audience can have an idea of how sharp the knife is. Lighting was of a low key.