Ninja 3: The Domination
Perhaps there is no modern practitioner of the art of ninjitsu who is more respected than the legendary Sho Kosugi, who parlayed his fame into a well remembered Ninja action trilogy starting with Enter The Ninja (where Sho played the main villain) followed by Revenge Of The Ninja (with Sho as the good guy matching wits with Arthur “Biden” Roberts) and finally this 1984 effort, where the decision was made to combine an Exorcist style horror film with the more traditional Ninja type storyline. To that end we are introduced to the stunningly beautiful Lucinda Dickey in the lead role: Gorgeous enough to make any man faint, sweet enough to give us a real sense of empathy and the ability to kick ass if the situation calls for it. Lucinda was an amazing dancer who transitioned into film and a 5 picture deal right out of the gate with Cannon Films, which included this one and of course Breakin Parts 1 and 2 (where she played an eager Girl DJ with ample cuteness) before suddenly retiring from the business for reasons unknown although she’s still known to be doing well to this day. Here, Lucinda plays a telephone repair girl and part time aerobics instructor who happens to be working on a line near a golf course when suddenly a Black Ninja attack occurs (in one of the most spectacular displays of pure killing ever captured on film), killing a scientist and his wife (intended targets), a boatload of bodyguards and a shitload of cops before enough boys in blue surround him so that they can empty their payloads in him. When Lucinda comes down to find out about the commotion, she encounters the dying Black Ninja and his sword with the sword having a glowing hypnotic effect on her beautiful eyes, which in essence causes her soul to fall under the possession of a black magic practitioner who needs a new body to operate in. And the first thing he does is use poor Lucinda to target the last few surviving cops who had finished him off, hitting one in his own private billiards room and then catching another one cavorting with a couple of hookers before icing all three, but only in this case the Black Ninja uses Lucinda’s sensuous beauty to set up the kill. All the while Lucinda herself has picked up a smitten stalker, an LAPD street cop who risks his career by showing up unannounced to Lucinda’s aerobics class with hard rape on the brain. Lucinda’s class is in a real lousy neighborhood, as no sooner than when class breaks there are always street thugs and legit rapists pawing away at Lucinda’s friends and students, so one day Lucinda decides to (in front of Stalker Cop) put on a spectacular fighting display using her newfound Ninja ability as she cripples and disables the current round of rapists for that day. Stalker Cop becomes Good Friend Cop and finally Cop Boyfriend when her newfound ninja feelings also accelerate her sexual cravings, screwing the cop while also pouring extra healthy V8 juice onto her body. But the Black Ninja revenge killings continue, at last prompting the arrival of Sho Kosugi into the film, boasting an eye patch and a sneer but also becoming the best thing about the movie acting wise. Kosugi is referred to early on as (possibly) being The Black Ninja’s “brother”, but he’s a little bit more than that, seeking longtime revenge on The Black Ninja in a way not unlike Bronson and Fonda in Once Upon A Time In The West. He also makes it a point to use non lethal tactics on any non player characters whom he encounters, a humane killer whenever he need be. While Stalker Cop Boyfriend looks on, Lucinda must contend with both the sympathetic Sho (i.e. he wants to save the girl as part of his revenge) as well as legendary James Hong as a crazy old Exorcist who brags about saving Lucinda only to make things worse when Black Ninja turns her into Linda Blair and Hong can only kneel and cower because he really doesn’t know what to do. But Sho knows what to do, successfully performing a spiritual transfer of Black Ninja’s soul back to his dead body, making a zombie out of him as we get Sub Zero vs Scorpion one more time here with the final battle. The gravitas that Kosugi brings to the film greatly enhances the happy and free spirited vibe given off by Lucinda, at her heart the most ideal 80s girl imaginable, beautiful but with little hint of pretentiousness as in the film’s most hilarious scene, when the sword tries to talk to her so she puts on some music and starts dancing in order to ignore it. The floating sword very quickly becomes its own character in and of itself, but the viewer tires quickly of the hypnotism scenes which as it turns out weren’t staged very well. It is unknown if the story is based on any sort of actual myths or legends surrounding ninjitsu or if Kosugi had any objections to the more fantastical elements as seen within. What is known is that these elements have given the film a lofty post modern cult status based mostly on converted fans of Lucinda who weren’t even alive when this film was made and of course the horror movie / martial arts crowd for whom anything of substance can be a crowd pleaser. But just as the film has its lovably goofy moments, it also has its boring moments such as the endless scenes of Lucinda being possessed by her custom made arcade game machine in her house, just her staring out into space while lights flash on her face. The creepy Stalker Cop Boyfriend character tries but fails miserably to register as being some sort of hero while having no real chemistry with Lucinda whatsoever which leads to speculation that the actor might possibly be gay. But when the movie has Sho come onscreen and the Save Lucinda theme is reinforced throughout, it makes for some harmless viewing if not taken too seriously…
5/10