Main cast: Scott Adkins (Casey Bowman), Kane Kosugi (Nakabara), Mika Hijii (Namiko Takeda), Shun Sugata (Goro), Mukesh Bhatt (Mike), Tim Man (Myat), and Vithaya Pansringarm (General Sung)
Director: Isaac Florentine

Ninja: Shadow of a Tear is, of course, the sequel to Ninja. Is there any story left to tell, after Casey Bowman had triumphed over the baddie and got the girl in the previous movie? Well, in a tried and true sequel-fuel manner, this movie quickly kills off Namiko, now Casey’s wife, when she is pregnant with their kid too. How cruel. On the other hand, this development also allows this movie to be better than the previous movie, in that it skips the banal feels and goes straight to the martial arts showcase. I don’t watch movies like this for the love story, after all, I want hot men beating one another to bloody pulps.

Indeed, Casey is heartbroken after discovering Namiko dead in their home, a result of what seems like a random break-in attempt. He eventually tracks down the villains responsible for his wife’s death to members of a rival dojo, and cheerfully murders them with style. I mean, he’s a ninja. Why simply slash someone to dead when he can use props to up the stylish factor?

After his vengeance is spent, however, our hero realizes that he has nothing left for him in Japan. He accepts the invitation of Nakabara, a former student at his dojo, to visit that man’s dojo in Bangkok. There, Casey can train, or meditate, or do whatever else he needs to find some peace in his heart and soul. You know how heroes are, though. Casey is soon involved in the efforts to protect Nakabara’s dojo from the drug cartel led by Goro, an enemy of both Nakabara and Casey’s own sensei. Only by beating up and killing dozens of people can Casey finally find the peace in his heart to let go of his grief and anger. Amen.

I’m not going to lie: I have a fondness for the cheesy, often so-bad-they-are-awesome B-grade action flicks produced for cheap in the 1980s, and movies like Ninja: Shadow of a Tear are a wonderful throwback to movies of that glorious B-grade schlock era. There are many, many filler scenes designed to just showcase people beating the crap out of one another, and that’s exactly what it should do and have rightfully done. Scott Adkins takes off his shirt to show off that lovely body of his, as he should. The twist can be seen coming from a mile away, as is right, because it’s just an excuse for Casey to beat up more people. Casey understands and speaks Japanese, but for some reason, the Japanese characters slip into English when talking to him; perhaps it’s because movies like this need English to be spoken in a noticeable accent for atmosphere or something. Nobody here will be winning any acting awards, but who cares? Look at them fight, and look at Mr Adkins’s body, ooh. The fight scenes are well choreographed, fluid, and can still be followed by the eye – just what I need from this movie.

So yes, this movie is all about the gratuitous fight scenes, but that’s all it needs to be about. It does its job well, and I am entertained.