Red Shadow: Akakage (2001) User Reviews

Deeper than one might expect

[sturmritter · 7/10 · 25 July 2005]

My first impression of seeing Akakage (Red Shadow), was that the story was simply a satire of ninja movies. The Cinematography is quite good, and exemplifies many earlier examples of Japanese Cinema with their frequent use of nature interlude shots. The film seemed childish at first, in the manner in which the characters were portrayed.

But upon reviewing the film again, I noted that it was actually more child-like. There was a mature comedic sense of what a child loves in a film about ninjas and samurai sword fights. I could appreciate the nostalgic sense of the old samurai films that was ably caught. The villains seem comic in many ways, and yet there is more than 1 dimension to the group of them. The use of anachronism in the film was to me particularly funny. I won't provide any spoilers, because they are readily apparent when you encounter them in viewing the film.

Anyways, if you want a light movie for Saturday night viewing with the kids, or with friends gathered around a bowl of popcorn, and want a good offbeat romantic adventure film, this is certainly one to try.

Kind of nifty but not a classic

[epyon-2 · 6/10 · 31 March 2002]

I saw this for the first time in a theater in Tokyo and was amused by the update styles of fighting and the comedy relief that the movie offered (not to mention the cute ninja chick making mouse noises; Get your minds out of the gutter). Upon second viewing, after it's release to video (with a poor subtitling job) I've come to the conclusion that there a few problems with it. However, I don't like to ruin movies for people so, I'll just say that it's an enjoyable, and campy ninja flick even though there are some things that need to be explained a little better. In the subtitled version at least.

Don't watch this movie if you're looking for a serious, Kurosawa type period piece. It's meant to be silly and go into it knowing that.

Interesting Re-Interpretation of A Classic TV Series

[jmaruyama · 5/10 · 15 February 2004]

Based on Yokoyama Mitsuteru's 60's manga series and its subsequent TV Adaptation "Kamen No Ninja - Akakage" (Masked Ninja - Red Shadow; Toei/Kansai TV, 1967), "Red Shadow" is an interesting remake that modernizes Japan's Feudal Past in much the same way as `Wild Wild West' did to American's Frontier History and `League of Extraordinary Gentlemen' did to Europe's Industrial Past. Director Nakano Hiroyuki certainly has a neat sense of style and constructs elaborate and interesting action sequences. While not as over-the-top as the recent `Azumi', `Red Shadow' still is a visual wonder. Masanobu Ando puts in a good performance as the title character but it is singers-turned-actors Hotei Tomoyasu, Jinnai Takanori, Fuji Fumiya and Shinohara Ryoko who impress the most with their performances. Actresses Kumiko Aso and Okina Megumi are stunning as the love interests to Akakage and certainly brighten the screen with their appearances. While Akakage is certainly not in the same league as movies such as `Makai Tensho' (Samurai Reincarnation;1981), `Satomi Hakkenden' (Legend of The Eight Samurai; 1984), or `Jubei Ninpocho' (Ninja Scroll; 1995) I definitely liked the film. `Akakage' is unapologetic in its style and reworking of history but I found its interpretations wonderfully entertaining if a bit flawed.

So much fun!!!

[manveru · 10 February 2004]

Yes, granted that historical accuracy is not a priority for this movie, but that's sort of missing the point: this film is a ninja movie that makes fun of many of the ninja movie conventions, to great comic effect, such as when the 3 ninjas giving each other a 1-10 rank on how stylishly they leapt over the wall of the castle they're infiltrating. Nevertheless this film is also a thrilling and quite moving story, with the elegant simplicity of a fairy-tale reinforced by its timeless setting. It also has the obligatory impressive fight scenes, which are not the best I've seen in any film but they are still very well done. This is a great film, not as violent and bloody as other critics suggest, and extremely funny at times!

More of a comedy than a martial arts movie

[chrichtonsworld · 3/10 · 18 October 2007]

Normally i would applaud a movie that tries to do something different or original in a genre. It is obvious that this movie is some sort of parody on ninja movies. And i really did my best to enjoy the movie. But I just couldn't. The jokes aren't funny enough! (I've seen my share of Japanese movies. And most of the times I like and understand the humor used in those movies. "Red Shadow" is just silly!)The characters that are portrayed in this movie know that this isn't a serious movie and show that all is about the fun. Look at the characters from parodies like "Hot Shots" or "Scary Movie". Everything they do on the screen is done with a straight face and never fall out of character! And because of this, certain scenes become funny and hilarious. In "Red Shadow" the actors never achieve that. The shadow ninja's supposed to be very skilled and deadly. Sadly the actors don't do their best in convincing us of their talents. They don't do things with a straight face. The jokes would have worked better if they did! The bad choreography of the action scenes also damaged the viewing experience for me. I like humor in martial arts movies as long as the action is good. "Red Shadow" just fails in that department. So what is left to be enjoyed. Well,the music (techno) was uplifting. It had to be as the action it self never is exciting. And there are some short dramatic scenes that are good but simple. The use of humor,lack of story and depth make me think that this movie is meant for children. But I do wonder if children actually would like this movie. Waste of time!

Ninja Academy: their first assignments.

[whatdoes1know · 6/10 · 31 October 2001]

Kage, or shadow, refers to ninjas. Aka Kage, or red shadow, is the ninja around which the story is centered. This movie is an adaptation of a tv series aired from 1967/4/15 to 1968/3/27 (52 stories) which itself is based on an ancient manga. The series introduced Japan to the wonders of color TV. However, like the new X-Men of the 2000 movie, the new ninjas refuse to wear their old corny costumes and wrap themselves in black bodysuits. The movie is a big long music video. The monotone techno beats flatten the movie's possible climaxes with the rest of the blah. The action is a lot of obvious stunt work, except for the thief played by gymnast Alina Kabaeva. Too bad the former professional sumo wrestler playing one of the thugs, Mai-no-Umi, has no chance to display the acrobatic skills that let him make sumo wrestlers twice his size bite the dust. Half of the plot tries and succeeds once out of ten times to make you laugh, the other half tries to be serious and make you feel for its flat characters--but the two never blend peacefully. This movie wastes all of its potential except on making Aso Kumiko (Asuka) look really hot.

As Samy Naceri (TAXI2) would say it: NINJAA!!

Interesting But Uneven

[NIXFLIX-DOT-COM · 5/10 · 31 August 2003]

Granted, RED SHADOW is not suppose to exist in any actual historical timeline. Still, it employs the Ninjas and the Samurai in its story, so one expects some adherence to history. But RED SHADOW has its own agenda, and while the film's fantastical elements is quite inspired and well done, one can't help but get the feeling that it feels a tad silly. Maybe that was the point, but I'm not sure if "silly" works in a movie that has so much violence and death.

And yet, RED SHADOW is quite entertaining, albeit in a fluff sort of way.

5 out of 10

(go to www.nixflix.com for a more detailed review of this movie and reviews of other foreign films)

Cool Ninja antics in this fun movie!

[BA_Harrison · 7/10 · 20 November 2005]

I saw this film knowing nothing about it (I bought it from ebay — it was cheap), and having not seen the director's earlier film, Samurai Fiction. I was pleasantly surprised.

The film has loads going for it if what you're after is an entertaining, funny and visually stunning movie — we get Indiana Jones-style booby-trapped castles, sexy girl ninjas in leather mini-skirts, cool ninja-dudes in indestructible armour, beautiful female contortionist thieves, and baddies with fists of steel. The action is sufficiently over-the-top and everything is accompanied by a pounding techno soundtrack.

What more could you ask for?

Best suited for 15 year olds

[Atavisten · 3/10 · 29 May 2005]

Owing a lot to the Chinese gung fu flicks in terms of being a martial arts comedy it has little more than the funny fighting scenes and the young and beautiful main characters.

Okina Megumi from 'Ju-On' plays a princess and Aso Kumiko plays Akakage's love interests in the movie and both are funny, fit and good looking so they probably make a similar interest for the young boys watching this This is meant as pure entertainment and it succeeds at that. Musicwise it looked good the first few seconds with drum and bass to a fight scene and I thought that Photek's 'Ni Ten Ichi Ryu' would make a brilliant score for a similar scene, but after that it was too formulaic and boring.

6/10 for this Toei production, an OK piece of entertainment a Sunday

[scobbah · 6/10 · 24 April 2006]

I was looking forward to this flick since the main character was played by Ando Masanobu, who made an impressive job and performance as "Kiriyama Kazuo" in Fukasaku Kinji's now to be considered cult film "Battle Royale" which was just shot the year before "Red Shadow".

The movie itself is not the typical ninja flick, so anyone running to the box office with this piece in mind looking for raw violence and beautiful fighting scenes and such probably will get disappointed. Instead, the flick is spiced up with a humorous approach to things and there is more weight put upon comedy and love than on ninja stunts (and those stunts that are, are quite silly to be honest - but that's how they were meant as well, I'd say!). I thought the story development at times was a little bit weird but I hopefully ended up with figuring it all out. Ando makes a neat performance, although not near as good as in "BR" but this role is quite different, too, and perhaps that has an take on things, too.

6/10 for this Toei production, an OK piece of entertainment a Sunday evening.

Lot's of fun, but not as good as Samurai Fiction

[bloodandpopcorn · 9/10 · 26 August 2004]

From the great Hiroyuki Nakano who proved himself with "Samurai Fiction" comes an entertaining, if not wholly fulfilling, Ninja movie!

If you enjoyed Samurai Fiction, then you should have a blast watching Red Shadow. It's one of the most entertaining films to come out of Asia in the past few years, with some really breathtaking stunts, great costumes and sets, and some charismatic characters. Still, at the end of the film I felt a bit that a little something was missing. I still can't quite put my finger on it.

Stylistically, Red Shadow is at least on par with Nakano's earlier masterpiece. The cinematography is beautiful (and in glorious color this time), and Nakano gives us some extremely cool crane shots. The humor is there, as is the respectively tongue-in-cheek tone, but Red Shadow takes a slight turn for the melodramatic in the middle, and I think that might be where it's biggest stumble was.

I won't go into details, as it would kind of spoil an important bit of the film, but the fun, light-hearted film that makes you feel as if you could jump, flip, and spin through the air suddenly stops and takes a more dramatic tone. It's a brief break, though, and a necessary one to set up the characters for the second half. It's problematic, though, because it divides the film into two very distinct segments, so much so that they could almost be different films!

Still, it's not that big of a flaw. Just a little irritating in hindsight. There are others, though: a slightly anti-climactic ending, a couple of plot holes, but nothing that really takes that much away from the film.

The characters aren't quite as interesting or charismatic as those in Samurai Fiction; that stops the film from being much more than entertainment.

This review has been pretty negative in tone, but it's really just from the high standard Nakano had set for himself. From another director, Red Shadow would be a great achievement. It's extremely stylish; the techno-rock soundtrack is very cool and somehow works well in context; the costumes look incredible; the special effects are subtle and convincing; the stunts and acrobatic feats a really awe-inspiring; the comedy succeeds almost without fail. It's certainly worth a look, and if you're prepared for the quirky comedy/romance/action tone, you should really enjoy Red Shadow.

Pick up the Media Blasters DVD. It's a really great 2-disc set.

Cool Ninja Action / Comedy

[patrick-bennett-1 · 6/10 · 2 May 2008]

The movie has a great look - the Ninja costumes are incredible with black armor and leather. The gymnastic style martial art feats are amazing. The humorous style reminded me of Ninja Turtles. Picture Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as humans in black ninja costumes and you have an idea at the kind of playful comedy banter and rivalry there is between the characters. I really enjoyed this one. I would like to see other work by this writer and director. I would even love to see a sequel to this film. If you are looking for a serious film about ninjas then this is probably not the one for you, but if you are looking for a light-hearted, fresh, humorous film on the subject then see Red Shadow now.

It rocks!

[obsidian-8 · 8/10 · 19 September 2001]

After Samurai Fiction this is another attempt at pushing a classical Japanese movie genre in the new century. Even the bad guy from the before mentioned movie has a cameo with what seemed to be the same character. Without getting in the story too deep, it's quite complex and with my limited understanding of Japanese I couldn't catch every twist of it. But it was great fun all the same. It delivers fast editing, new style martial arts and a sound track of electronic and guitars that fits very well the fast paced action-sequences. I hope to see a subtitled version someday so I'd understand a little more of what's going on and why, but I strongly recommend it, if only for the looks of it.

Lush-looking, funny romantic Japanese action movie.

[Zombified_660 · 8/10 · 18 May 2005]

Red Shadow is one of the few films I've watched recently that I think I could easily show to any of my friends or family. It has a bit of everything, by turns an exciting high octane action movie, a moving romance and an entertaining comedy. In ways it may perhaps strike some as unhinged as a result of this mix of styles, but it gives itself enough time (the movie is around 2 hours or so) to develop each properly.

The cast are fantastic, a joy to watch, and handle the many action sequences very well. The two leads are utterly convincing as a pair of inept, naive but honourable apprentice ninjas, and the supporting cast are equally wonderful. Many Japanese movies suffer from a certain stiltedness, almost mistaking slow delivery for weight, resulting in long tedious scenes between actors not suited for such material, but Red Shadow is brisk and evenly paced despite its length, and the whole cast can hold their scenes with the best of them.

Despite its mix of genres and wonderful cast, Red Shadow could unfortunately be inaccessible all too easily. The closest comparison I can come up with to its plotting and formatting is the TV show Scrubs, and I feel it might come with the same problem as Scrubs (a wonderful show don't get me wrong) in that many people may just...not get it. Make no mistake, Red Shadow is a bit tricky to grab a hold of initially, and a few may not make it through the first half hour.

However, persevere and you have much to enjoy. Even if you aren't necessarily on board per se with the plot, the movie is also drop dead gorgeous, flipping from glorious full colour day scenes to deep blue night sequences with great finesse, and the full period detail is truly immersive despite the off-kilter nature of the script.

Give Red Shadow a try, you may find it difficult, but like me you may find an awesome little left-field comedy-actioner.

Excellent movie for everyone; even those that don't usually like Ninja movies.

[wolfracing · 10/10 · 2 March 2012]

This movie is a refreshing alternative to the usual ninja epics. The story is both exciting and heartbreaking at the same time with a certain amount of comedy relief.I was very impressed with the two female stars and must say that it was easy to fall instantly in love with both! I am American by birth but my wife is Japanese and i had to make sure she saw this movie; even though she normally doesn't care for this type of movie she was left with tears at the end. I have a fascination with Ninja movies;especially those involving Kunoichi lady ninjas and have a large collection. This is one of the best overall but may not appeal to the purist as it lacks the blood and gore some directors use for shock value. In my opinion the story makes this movie a must see!Highly recommended and i do hope that one day the "powers that be" do a sequel with the same cast!

Love this movie!

[geddyleeisgod · 9/10 · 10 May 2007]

When I moved to Japan, I saw this in the theater because of the cool poster. Didn't understand a word of what they were saying, but still loved this movie; one of my favorites. It's populated with J-Pop "talento" (actors & actresses) and the heroines is quite striking.

And then, AMAZINGLY, two years after seeing it, I went to work for this small Tokyo company and my manager WAS THE GUY WHO WROTE THE SCREENPLAY!

Very cool. See it. You'll love it.

Other hearty recommendations: Azumi (she is SOOOO hot!!!) Juon 1(you'll poop your pants!) High and Low (Kurasawa based on Ed friggin' McBain! How cool is that!?!)

The Future of Japanese Ninja Flicks

[rustyangel13 · 21 December 2002]

THE RED SHADOW: I've seen the future of the Japanese "new-age" ninja / samurai cinema and it's the supra-hip RED SHADOW film directed by HIROYUKI NAKANO (of SAMURAI FICTION fame) and starring ANDO MASANOBU (the absolutely psychotic, but absolutely cool Kiriyama from the Greatest Japanese film of all time, BATTLE ROYALE). Hopefully this movie will do to the "new-wave" ninja genre what SEIJUN SUZUKI (BLOOD, PISTOL OPERA, BRANDED TO KILL) and TAKASHI MIIKE (FUDOH, DEAD OR ALIVE, TOKYO MAFIA) did for the modern "neon-pop" Yakuza scene. But all that aside, RED SHADOW, simply put, is a flashy, hip (I know this word keeps coming up), stylish, "live-action" comic book, martial arts comedy made into one long jazzy music video. Just sit back and enjoy because it's nothing but colorful, snazzy eye-candy mingled with mindless high-gloss fluff and it's very, very fun to watch. As for the plot of the movie itself, Ando stars as the ninja, AKA KAGE (the RED SHADOW) and along with his bumbling ninja-buddy, the BLUE SHADOW and their female partner (and love interest), ASUKA (or ASKA, however you wish to pronounce it), they go out on important missions to capture or steal information for their master who's goal is to keep the peace throughout the kingdom which is about to erupt into civil war. As the movie progresses, we meet all kinds of samurai (both good and bad) and the many "specialty" warriors (zany characters you'd see in a fantasy Anime). But the real story starts to take shape when we meet the newly crowned, PRINCESS KOTO (played by MEGUMI OKINA), who's in jeopardy of loosing her castle and army to a traitor from among her own family members. And if this person succeeds, this will surely bring the entire kingdom to the brink of war. So, it's up to the RED SHADOW and company to expose this threat, save the Princess from the evil-doers, and prevent the impending civil war. So from what's you've just read, you can expect it to be very traditional, very simple, pretty basic, and straight to the point. Which (in this case) actually works excellent for this movie. There's no real plot twists to worry about or mysteries to baffle the viewer (the "bad guys" are shown right from the start and their intentions are stated very early on) so it's an hour and a half of quirky, martial arts foolishness (very similar to the much overlooked SCREAMING MAD GEORGE zany KUNG-FU RASCALS flick) and wacky characters doing wacky things. I used to always say that JET LI's super-hero, Kato-inspired, action frolic, THE BLACK MASK was the closest thing to watching a comic book on the tv screen but RED SHADOW now grabs that coveted title. So, kick back, check it out, and simply enjoy.