The Hunted
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Movie Reviews of The Hunted
Movie Review: Underappreciated action movie
Summary: 3 Stars
I saw this film when it debuted in theaters, and I quite liked it, despite its flaws. It's premise is a fascinating one: the survival of an ancient ninja cult in modern Japan. This cult is led by a ninja of legendary skill and power called Kinjo. To create balance, this ninja cult must, of course, have an enemy, and in Japan, that enemy could only be samurai. So Takeda, scion of an ancient samurai family, and seemingly the protector of Paul Racine (the hapless French-American businessman who has stumbled into the midst of this conflict) appears to be one of the good guys. But alas, appearances can be deceiving. Takeda is not as noble as he seems. At first Takeda does genuinely seem to be one of the good guys. He conveys Racine to his island home, ostensibly to protect him from the Kinjo, who will be coming after him because Racine saw his face. It is eventually revealed that somewhere along the line, in his quest for the glory he will achieve by defeating Kinjo, Takeda has broken his moral compass. All others, even his own students are nothing more than fodder for his ambition to destroy Kinjo, and are considered by Takeda to be utterly expendable. Once Racine is safely ensconced within the samurai's island fortress, Takeda can barely conceal his contempt for the man (who unwittingly offered him insult by handling his katana -- the samurai's weapon that no other man is permitted to touch), and it quickly becomes apparent to Racine that not only is he not free to leave, but Takeda would probably kill him if he didn't need him to as bait for Kinjo. Worse, it turns out that Takeda coldly and deliberately endangered a train full of innocent commuters, many of whom were killed at the hands of Kinjo's forces. Watching all this unfold is Takeda's wife, well played by Yoko Shimada (whom American audiences will remember for her part in the miniseries "Shogun"). And viewers can see her growing alarm at her husband's increasingly obsessive and frankly evil behavior, but her loyalty keeps her by his side right to the end. I like this aspect of the film, and I like it that one of the seeming good guys turns out to be anything but -- it just goes to show that the enemy of one's enemy is not always one's friend.
The movie is a well paced, reasonably smart action/thriller, with good acting, great fight scenes, and a good premise. It's biggest flaw is a plot hole big enough to sail the battleship Yamato through. I refer to the slaughter on the bullet train. If scores of people in a modern, developed, highly industrialized country were systematically butchered by a small cadre of sword-wielding ninja assassins, working their way methodically back from the front of the train, it would make BIG headlines all over the world. This kind of attention is not the sort of thing any organization dedicated to stealth and secrecy would ever want to attract to itself in a million years. Still, apart from this glaring flaw, it was a highly entertaining movie, and well worth a look.
Movie Review: Lots of swordplay
Summary: 3 Stars
An enjoyable movie but too bad John Lone's immitation of a Japanese wasn't very good. You would think that there were suitable Japanese actors available to fill that roll. I guess they were looking for some name recognition rather than anything more authentic. At least Joan Chen didn't try to speak Japanese.Movie Review: Guilty Pleasure
Summary: 3 Stars
Ninja on a bullet train. Thats the movie right there. Everything else can be skipped.Movie Review: Ninja Flick from the Writer of 'Pretty Woman' (I'm Not Kidding): Poor Actions And Laughable Story
Summary: 2 Stars
Not to be confused with `The Hunted' (2003) directed by William Friedkin.
`The Hunted' (1995) stars French actor Christopher Lambert as Paul Racine, American businessman on trip to modern-day Nagoya, third-largest city of Japan, who happens to witness the killing of a woman by black-masked ninjas. The cult ninja group is actually led by a charismatic leader, Japanese named `Kinjo' who is played by a Chinese actor John Lone, and they begin to search Paul to kill. At the end of the film Paul, an ordinary businessman, proves to be an equal match when fighting against martial arts master Kinjo with a Japanese sword. If you can believe this ridiculous story, you can believe anything.
I can happily ignore all the cultural inaccuracy in films as long as they give me something entertaining, but unfortunately it was not the case with `The Hunted,' of which story slowly follows a beaten path of the genre to the unexciting climax. Moreover, to handle a Japanese sword you need certain kind of gracefulness, which Tom Cruise in `The Last Samurai' managed to acquire after many months' hard training. Lambert et al. show no such thing. He and other ninjas just use them fast and furious, but with no grace and consequently, impact at all. Instead the film substituted the grace of Japanese sword fighting for needless bloody violence, and its pinnacle is the pointless terrorism of the ninjas in the bullet train. This is an insult to Japanese culture, for a ninja could be a spy or an assassin, but he is never a terrorist who would kill innocent passengers.
But the most damaging is the way how the film treats women, who are there to be used for sex scenes. Watching Joan Chen in a Japanese bathtub with Christopher Lambert was something I never expected to see, and it surely represents the attitudes of some (if not all) Hollywood films towards women. And it is not surprising to see the film's director is J. F. Lawton, whose biggest hit is Julia Roberts' `Pretty Woman' (as a writer).
By some distributors (who must have been shocked to know the film's awful content after buying the right) really released this Universal film theatrically in Japan. Since then it has been a cult film for avid Japanese film fans, who take this film as sort of comedy. Really. In addition to the ridiculous casting and the laughable scene where Chris and Joan make love in Japanese bathtub that looks as if made 200 years ago, it has plenty of things that make us laugh - a sweet little girl in pachinko parlor, a kind of gambling place (What is she doing there?); a flight attendant-like female assassin in the bullet train (Come on, it's a train, not an airplane!), and the banging Japanese taiko (drum) concert in the garden of a Nagoya hotel (You just cannot sleep!). Even though this is an action flick, it needs some degree of plausibility, which it totally disregards. And there are poorly done actions, which is another reason that makes me regard `The Hunted' as the Universal Pictures have temporarily stepped into the Ed Wood's Grade-Z territory.
Movie Review: Ok....but .....
Summary: 2 Stars
I agree with R. Eastwood on mostly of what he says.
Despite that, I have to say that I enjoyed it, since this is one of the few western movies in the genre. Or at least with some decency.
It's a strange movie. It seems that it was written in a hurry, without a real plot purpose. What did it conveyed?
Mr. Lambert really shows his lack of minimun skills in martial arts (And I thought I had seen the worst with David Carradine!)
It's a movie without a main character. It is not Kijo, not Takeda, not even Racine.
I was expecting Takeda to be the real deal, the guy with knowledge and values, but in the end was the real bastard, even more than Kijo.
If we talk about performances, ufff.. Lambert doesn't make it at all, not even the guy who plays Takeda. Whoever, Kijo was excellent !
They introduce this swordsmith character, which is completely out of line. He's a drunkard, at the same time a teaser and an swordsman, who actually teaches Racine a few ninja moves (he knows some ninja style but he's the swordsmith of a samurai???....). The end is a very sad moment because all of these guys in the island die, even Takeda, and Kijo, BUT.....the drunkard comes in a samurai gear, ready for action, and Racine, as nothing had happened, give him a stupid/funny comment.....What was
On the positive side ....I have to say that the swords choreography wasn't that bad, the kendo fight was alright, and this guy John Long (Kijo) seems to have real knowledge of swordsmanship.
As a conscientious student of Kendo and Iaido, my real delight was the master piece The Last Samurai. One of my top three movies. From every angle, the movie really made it. The performances, the casting, the fight scenes, the narratives, dialogues, photograpies, costumes, the story, the depth of the characters .... so perfect and beautiful I can't believe it. A real gift for us practioners of the japanese sword.