Sunday, October 23, 2011

NINJA KIDS!!!

It's spelled in the exact way I spelled it above. But, NINJA KIDS!!! is a film by Takashi Miike, one of the best directors alive in the world. It's insane. It's completely fucking cuckoo and good for it. It's bright, colorful, cheesy, dumb, irreverant, funny, retarded, thrilling, instructive, and great. It tells the story of Rantaro, a young, cute Japanese boy who leaves his family to go to the Ninja Academy. There, he will redeem his family in the eyes of the ninjas. Except, Rantaro is in 1st grade. The young ninjas learn all about how to be a ninja in the most entertaining part of the film. We get instructive insights into every weapon and style, and then the teacher bangs the head of a young kid on the desk, spewing snot everywhere and thrusting the boy out the window where he plummets, hits a rock with his head, and falls peacefully asleep. Then an assassination attempt occurs, but the assassin isn't allowed in because he won't sign in. Then there's ninja hair stylists who fight people by giving them silly hairstyles, a race, more snot, a devious dog, small fish!!! NINJA KIDS!!! is fucking insane, but Miike handles the insanity. The film is funny, repetitive in its comedy over the span of twenty minutes, and we are reminded of things that we found comical earlier. There is obvious parody at work, some heart, and some ridiculousness. When some sappy scene threatens itself, Miike handles it perfectly with some oddball revelation. NINJA KIDS!!! is purely fun, terrific entertainment without any convention.
NINJA KIDS!!!: ★★★1/2

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