American Ninja 4: The Annihilation

After a quite disappointing third sequel, the fourth one did bring back some grace into the franchise (eventhough it didn't work out as I hoped). Steve James resignation for the fourth sequel (and if I'm not mistaken, this film was made before he passed away) in my opinion was due to the fact that the director decided to bring Dudikoff back after a setback in the third installment. For me, the most interesting but could have used a little bit of polishing up in the film was the plot itself. A group of soldiers gets captured by an Arab and English terrorist building a bomb. The American government then sends Sean Davidson (David Bradley) to try and handle the situation and when he fails as well, they finally the send in the back the original kickass ninja pro Joe Armstrong (Michael Dudikoff) into the action since it was sort of like when everything else fails, Joe Armstrong doesn't. This was a pretty interesting sequel and probably the 3rd best of the entire series behind Annilation. To get to this film, I have no real idea why Dudikoff agreed to return back to this fourth installment (maybe he did it just for the sake of the fans of the franchise) but thankfully, he really brought the life back into the series (and for fans like myself) even though he didn't seemed like he was in the mood of acting in this sequel. David's character in this sequel in my opinion was far more respectable than in the third one. He might have done a decent if not good job on the 3rd sequel but in my opinion, his performance here as the 2nd leading actor was way better since he really looks more of a ninja expert in this one compared to the third installment. However, there were a few minor complaints that I have for the film. First off, I expected Dudikoff and Bradley to team up together and become buddies like almost immediately in the film but sadly this did not happen for until like the final 20 minutes of the film. The final fights from both sides (Dudikoff's and Bradley's) were not really that entertaining either since Bradley only had to fight a chicken whuss and Dudikoff once again made an Arabic ninja (whose even more quite in the film than Michael was throughout the film) look like a kindergarden amateur. Another complaint that I would like to bring up (although minor) is that I think that it felt like pointless having the scene where Joe was making his weapons (the sword and shurikens) and holding up the sword in front of his face like it was the most important possession that he ever had but in the end, he just fought the enemies with his own bare hands and never used them at all throughout the ending of the film. I think that maybe the director had accidentally forgotten about that part which was why we never got to see Dudikoff using his weapons in the end. Another part that I have to complain was that they never really told the story of how Joe (Michael) and Sean (David) became friends in the first place and all in all, I felt like maybe this was more of like shrink and squeeze in as much as possible kind of plot story than the one that they had originally intended to create. However, these flaws did not ruin the film too much since I felt it really did make up for the rather disappointing third sequel. All in all, I would really recommend this to all American Ninja fans out there and anyone else who just wants to spend three hours of their time watching some mindless but still a rather fun action movie. I'd give the film a 7 out of 10

American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt

When I found out that Dudikoff was not going to feature in this sequel, my heart sank immediately but still, I decided to give this one a chance. Sadly, it didn't live up the expectations that I had hoped for. First off, I thought that the character Sean Davidson written for newly American Ninja star David Bradley here was kind of out of place. Hands out to David for an impressive performance here but I felt that he was portrayed more of like of the grown up version of Daniel from karate kid and has no Ninja background within him whatsoever which for me seemed out of place. Apart from that, I felt that the script for film was quickly rewritten after Dudikoff's exit. Rumors had it that he and the director (and probably Steve James) had some kind of argument backstage which led to Michael's departure from the franchise. James did a decent job in trying to make the film entertaining but in the end the film failed to impress me due to the fact that the title itself didn't really connect to the film. I think that if the crew took time in developing Bradley's character better (by giving him a more convincing ninja background), then it would have made the film better than what was given here. For its efforts, I give the film a 5 out of 10

American Ninja 2: The Confrontation

After watching the first American Ninja, I had high hopes for the
second one and in the end, I got exactly what I wanted from this film.
It had everything (well almost everything) that I expected, more
ninjas, more action, more silliness and more Michael Dudikoff kicking
some ninja butt compared to the first one. Michael is as cool as ever,
had more lines in this movie compared to the first one (although still
not that much) and as usual likes to let his hands do the talking most
of the time for him. I didn't really like Steve Jame's character much
in this second film since I felt like he was too cocky in when he
fights (especially the part where he, Dudikoff and one of their marine
friends had that brawl at the bar) but he still does a solid job in
this one I still like the part where he finished last ninja just simply
shouting 'STAY DOWN' at him. Other minor complains that I would come up
with again would have to be Joe's (Michael) indestructible character. I
thought that he would have been given a more challenging situation in
this film seeing that the organization that he fighting up against are
producing super ninja soldiers but once again he made look like he was
just going up against a bunch of kindergarden ninjas who weren't even
worthy of challenging him at all. Even the main head ninja in the end
was also just out of Dudikoff's league and how he managed to stuff a
shotgun under his ninja gear, I have no idea. However, these are just
minor complaints that I could come out with since overall, the movie
was still mindlessly fun to watch for two hours. I would recommend this
to anyone out there who would love to get spend two or three hours of
their time watching some mindless but yet still fun ninja buttkicking
action film. A perfect 10 out of 10 for me

The American Ninja

When I was young back then, Action movies were my kind of films and the
American Ninja starred by Michael Dudikoff and his sidekick Steve James
were one of my favorite cheesy action movies of all time. Back then
Ninjas were considered cool and unstoppable especially the one playing
the lead role. Going into this movie, I really enjoyed it very much and
it was very impressively made considering the budget that they had for
this film. The fight scenes were entertaining to watch and Dudikoff's
fine performances was what made the movie great and he really pulled it
off well. I think that the reason why he played the more of quiet
character type in the film was because of the script (where the
director felt that it would be better for the man to let his skills do
the talking for him) and not because of his camera shyness. The late
Steve James along with the other actors also did an impressive job in
making this movie and apart from a simple mindless action ninja butt
kicking story, I don't see anything else that is wrong with this film.
The only complaint that I could come out with here and also in the
sequels 2 and 4 was that Michael (or Joe) looked TOO invincible in this
film and made all the other ninjas (even the main ones) look like
schoolboy amateurs and after a while it tends to bored the audience or
fans like me. Still however, I would recommend this to anyone who just
wants to spend two to three hours of their time watching some mindless
but yet still fun and cool movie to watch. I'd give it an 8 out of 10

Mighty Morphin Power Ranger

I just love this show. To me its telling us kids and teenagers that we young generations also have a responsibility to protect the world. Before I go into the my opinion, I would first like to say I am deeply sadden by all the people her who have been bashing around about the MMPR. First off,the show was meant for kids and not adults. A kid see s it different from compare to an adult so please look at it from a child's point of view

The show introduces five teenagers Jason (a great and well respected leader, also my all time favourite ranger of all time), Kim (a good role modal for girls and in my opinion the one who should have had a crush on Jason), Zack (definition of Mr. Cool), Trini (Noble, Disipcline and kind hearted) and Billy (Mr Genius of the group). This show is just Morphinorminal. The first season needs no explanation. All the fights and others moments that we got from the show was just breath taking and a great music background just made it even more entertaining

Jason in my opinion was the best role modal for me. I feel that he has more strength, courage and determination over the other rangers which is why he was the leader of all the other red rangers. Apart from that, unlike the other red rangers after him, he was like the only who never really got an upgrade (ok he did get the green ranger's powers from Tommy but wasn't really something that big compare to the other red rangers) but he still kicks butt even when he is in his human form

All the way in the first season was great and things got more exciting when they introduced Tommy The Green Ranger. However, I never liked Tommy that much since he was always portrayed as the one to the rescuer when the other rangers had trouble but event though he might have been the savior in most of the ranger's battles, he was nothing compare to the Jason

The Zord battles were also great and I was really eager to see the Megazord once and for take out Goldar and Scorpina with his power Sword but sadly, that never happened. However, it was still great to watch though and I sometimes feel that the rangers fight Goldar and Scorpina better with the Megazord rather than on the ground

Then came the introduction of the Thunderzords and until now, I still can't choose which one's better between Thunderzords and Dinozords. However, it all then slowly started to go away from me when they introduced Tommy again this time as the White Ranger (which I really, really, REALLY hated and he was not suppose to be back in the series in during the first place). However even though Zordan did say that he was the new leader, he never really looked like one when Jason was still around but in my opinion, thats where it all started to go wrong. 1st off, Red is the symbol of leadership and having another color replacing its leadership was not a good idea. An example that failed was the Bettleborgs

Then finally, the killer blow was delivered into the show a few episodes later. When Jason, Zack and Trini left and were replaced by Rocky, Adam and Aishya the chemistry within the team especially when in the normal situations never really worked out with Rocky, Adam and Aishya around compared to Jason, Zack and Trini. I was really sad by this and ever since then, I've reduced my time watching the show especially when I can't seem to put up with Tommy bossing around all the time. I mean he never really had that spark as a leader compare to Jason since Jason most of the time works along with the team where Tommy on the otherhand, pphhhh just more to himself (He was just more of the showoff in my opinion) and the series buried itself deeper into the ground when they replaced Kim with Kat who didn't impress me that much

Later there was the introduction of the Zeo Rangers. However it was not really that great compare to the original MMPR but when Jason came back as the Gold Ranger, the show did get better and I feel that he was the saving grace of the show there for a while. I can't say much about starting from Zeo and onwards since I was never really into the show. I rather not go into the other series further since this review is about the MMPR

Overall I can say that this was definitely one of my favourite shows back then (apart Kamen Rider)and being able to watch it again on youtube etc. really brought the childhood back in me. I would welcome a movie remake of the Power Rangers but a series remake? Hhhhmmm........ I'm not so sure that it will be as good as before but its worth giving a try

IT'S MORPHIN TIME!

"Kamen Rider Decade"

I decided to give the show a 5 out of 10 overall out of sympathy due to the fact that the creators included Black and Black RX to the series but still, it did not serve the series much justice either

I would like to start by saying I HATE DECADE. He is the most arrogant and annoying main protagonist of all my years as a Kamen Rider fan. How could have TOEI came up with this idea anyway? The plot didn't help much either since apart from where he would go next, it was pretty obvious that the only thing about this series is that Decade/Tsukasa only enters from 1 world to another for in my opinion nothing whatsoever and this got boring after a few episodes. Even though I was grateful for them introducing Black and RX back into the series, I feel that after the Hibiki world, they should have just skipped straight to Diend's world, let Decade find his Decadriver there and then straight away moved to the finale of the series since introducing more of these mysterious worlds didn't help changed my mood either. Most of all, I would really have preferred it better if they turned Decade evil at the end and let him get destroyed by possibly Rising Ultimate Kuuga, Double (who made a cameo appearance in the first movie) or even better yet Black or RX himself

The part where I find disgusted the most is that this was suppose to be a celebration for TOEI's 20th anniversary for producing the Kamen Rider show but sadly in my opinion, they ruined it by creating Decade. I hated Decade himself more than I hated the series since he does not have his own powers and most of the time likes to depend on the rider forms (transforming into other Kamen Riders) in order to beat his enemies. Of course he would still be strong without the cards but in my opinion, he would have had a more challenging time winning his battles if he could not turn into any rider forms and it got worse with the introduction of his complete form which was just totally plain horrible and disastrous. I mean what was the deal with sticking all of those cards all over his body. To add more insult to his complete form, there is no originality at all in it and to add up with Tsukasa's bossy and arrogant attitude just made me hated him more than ever

In the end, I appreciate TOEI for bringing back all of our favorite past Heisei riders as a treat to the fans but in my opinion, the way they did it was not to say that it was bad but it was not that good either. I feel that like this was really an unfair show for fans like me especially when they introduced back the showa riders only to make a mockery out of them by letting them get defeated so easily by Decade. I feel that it would have been better if the creators have scrapped out the Decade idea and took Kamen Rider Double/W or Accel as their main rider instead or created a movie version of their Kamen Rider Seigi No Keifu game. That would have really made a lot better than we were given here

So sorry if I am giving too much negative comments here but I just had to since I am totally sad by what I had been given here and because of this also, I decided that I couldn't be bothered to watch this show and focused on watching the US Kamen Rider Dragon Knight instead which was way much better in my opinion

So to sum things up, this was like a epic failed show for me. However, I am sure and have faith in TOEI that they will come out with a much better series in the future

Kamen Rider THE FIRST

When I first saw the cover of this film, I was really surprised with it since but also extremely happy since it was like a dream come true for me. Kamen Rider has been childhood hero since I was 6 and I'm still very fond of them

To get to this film, I have to stay that it was good but everything just seemed to be like going just too fast and it was more like the creators were focusing on Hongo more than Ichimoji rather than having both of the riders fight along side by side together most of the time. Apart form that, there were also a lot of parts which were not explained in the film like Kamen Rider 2's background, where did he get his bike and what was his real connection to Katsuhiko

However, these flaws did not stopped KR : THE FIRST from being a great movie. The love triangle plot between Hongo, Asuka and Ichimoji was great and I really liked the part when Kamen Rider 1 saved Asuka from the spider monster defeating him in the process. The final fight was also great and I really like the choreography crew who worked out so well in making the fights very entertaining. The ending with KR 1 carrying Asuka in his arms on the beach in the end was really romantic indeed (as well as the one when they were riding together on Hongo's bike

Overall, Kamen Rider THE FIRST is a great film and should be enjoyable for all the fans and its even better than its sequel THE NEXT. Its definitely something for the fans to enjoy