Overwrought ninja movie based on a comic book which uncomfortably combines dramatic pretensions with some very silly violence. The bad computer effects not only undermine the film’s shock value but appear to have been lifted from a completely different movie. The results are distracting and take the cartoon-like extremities of a film like Ninja Assassin to new heights of absurdity. Two sequences stand out: a tree-hopping ninja duel and a remarkably crass shark-hunting scene, both of which look horrendous. Kamui (Matsuyama) is a renegade ninja, escaping his former life in a simple fishing village where he has befriended an opportunistic bounder. His buddy uses a horse’s leg as bait, but don’t worry, only a computer-generated horse was harmed during the making of this scene. Then some pirates turn up and all hell breaks lose. There are cool moments, like Kamui’s Double Mist technique in which he can supernaturally clone himself during fight scenes. But it’s hard to swallow Matsuyama in the lead role, who seems incredibly youthful to be escaping a life of bloodthirsty self-destruction.

AKA: Kamui Gaiden; Kamui: The Lone Ninja