And so the concluding part of Canon films (Unofficial) ‘Ninja’ trilogy ends on probably the most bizarre note it could have ended on. By bringing demonic possession into the franchise!

Yes, the plot of this movie revolves around a Linewoman and gym Bunny ‘Christie’ as she accidentally becomes possessed by the demon spirit of an evil Ninja after weilding a cursed Katana. Her new boyfriend (and cop) is put on the case of trying to hunt down a mysterious Ninja killer who’s attacking random cops and people across the city…aaaaand as you can imagine hilarity ensues.

This films kind of lived on in the cult cinema conciousness due to it’s infamy. Indeed this is a totally cheesy and strange movie, make no mistake. But I do rather feel it’s reputation overstates it’s oddness. As part of the Ninja trilogy, its definitely a change of pace. But as a standalone movie; it’s not really THAT weird.

The scripts a bit of a mess, Its a fun mess make no mistake, but It somehow manages the incredibly difficult feat of keeping the script incredibly basic story wise, while overcomplicating the basic elements of that script to the point that it becomes overly complex and awkward.

Its a cat and mouse possession plotline, it really shouldnt be more complicated than ‘Bad guy is killing people/being bad, good guys are hunting them down’ But instead we have police chases, manhunts, a BEYOND strange exorcism scene in the middle of the movie that im STILL not 100% sure if it’s supposed to have been a dream or not. All the characters overexplain there roles, the pacing is stuck in one gear for most of the runtime, occasionally juddering into something a bit more pacey when a fight scene kicks off.

It all unfortunatley trundles into a rather drab 3rd act with an underwhelming finale. Oh, dont get me wrong, this thing is dripping with all the worst aspects and excesses of 80s culture circa 1984. But its a bit of a mixed bag on that front, with some of those elements landing perfectly, and others being just amazingly cringeworthy.

The character dialogue is SUPER minimalist, basic dialogues about as good as it gets and the creaking sound you can hear across the runtime is the weight the actors are having to carry in making what basic dialogue is there engaging and entertaining. Seriously; without the cheesy hammy over the top ness of the cast. This thing would be dryer than sandpaper in the desert.

It’s a usual criticism, but I really do feel had this thing had either 15 minutes taken off or 20 minutes of explanation added on, it could have easily been the best of the trilogy on the story front. as it stands, it borders on the incoherent at times and its entertainment value is almost entirely AT the film, rather than WITH it.

On the direction front, this is probably the best of the trilogy! A film that fully embraces trying anything once, it misses about as much as it hits, but it manages to carry a basic standard of direction and cinematography (for the most part) While also not being afraid to completely go off the handle and get experimental, creative and weird. While it MUST be acknowledged at this point, that the film is clearly trying its best to ape ‘Ghostbusters’ (this film came out 3 months after ‘Ghostbusters’ did.’ I will always applaud a film that tries and fails, than one that plays it overly safe.

The cine is equally quite the mixed bag, While I feel more B-roll and cutaway footage really would have helped shore this thing up a bit more, the edit’s are somewhat tight and the compositions seem considered and thoughtful. While the film only just crawls past the 90 minute feature runtime. I think the editors have done a good job of keeping this thing as lean as possible, while working to that 90 minute minimum zone. It absolutely could have been leaner, but it has to be stressed that theres an art in meeting runtime requirements when it comes to figuring out what can be trimmed out and what has to stay.

All in all? Its a total cheese sandwhich of a movie. But I actually kind of had a soft spot for ‘Ninja 3’ I dont think I enjoyed it quite as much as ‘Revenge of the Ninja’ (Itself really more of an all rounder people pleaser) but I could easily see me double featuring this film with something like ‘One Dark Night’ or ‘Ghost Warrior’ as a more spiritual cheesy double header.

A decent enough campy cult watch thats a total mess of a movie, but all the better for it.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/ninja-iii-the-domination/