Beverly Hills Ninja

Cast:  Chris Farley, Chris Rock, various ninja guys

Review by The Ranting WolfCastle

    Films like this are good to have.  They put many things into perspective.  First of all, it's important to have movies like this for adolescents, and second, it's equally as important for those of us that aren't adolescents to stay away from such films.

    The basic plot line goes something like this:  Chris Farley stars as the "Great White Ninja".  He grew up in a Japanese dojo, where there is a legend that deals with a white ninja that will save them from certain doom.   So obviously, the ninjas at the dojo mistakenly think that this is Farley.   They try to train him to be a ninja, but inevitably the result is failure.   The Great White Ninja screws up everything.  So they send him away Beverly Hills to accomplish a mission.  Unbeknown to Farley's character, the master of the dojo sends the best ninja he has, to go hide from Farley, and watch after him.   Farley goes to America, and this is where he meets up with Chris Rock, a hotel employee.  So Farley wonders around Beverly Hills, trying to stop a ninja gang of counterfeiters.  He yells repeatedly, and gets hurt, and that's basically the only comic angle the film takes.

    I hate to trample on the grave, but I don't think Chris Farley could act.  He can't carry a whole movie with his slapstick humor, it just doesn't work.   This is why I think Chris Rock is in this film.  To be a type of David Spade (Tommy Boy, Black Sheep) comedy relief.  Because without a supporting comic, Farley falls short.  But unfortunately Chris Rock's character was written to compliment Farley, not confront him.  Rock just kind of follows Farley around and tries to be a ninja himself.  Which doesn't really help matters.  I don't know if the writers wrote the part specifically for Chris Rock, but it's not his type of comedy, and a general waste of his "talents".  This movie is just boring, and tiring.  You can only take so much of Farley bumbling around, running into things, and making a general ass of himself.  There are a few funny parts, that mainly deal with the expert ninja sent to help Farley.  Who is cleverly disguised so that most of the times the audience doesn't even notice him.  Other than this, the movie is predictable and fake, which can be expected with this type of film.  The people fly at impossible trajectories, and the fighting scenes are blatantly choreographed.  The only way you can really pull off a ninja movie these days is to have Jacky Chan and a funny (non-slapstick) comedian in it.  Unfortunately this movie has neither.

    So, if you're a big Chris Farley fan, you probably liked this film.   If you liked "Tommy Boy" and "Black Sheep" you might not enjoy this one as much.  I remember when I went to see "Beverly Hills Ninja" in the theatre (on the whim of a recommendation from a friend).  I walked into the theatre and it was filled with ten to fourteen year olds.  I thought to myself "Oh my God, what the hell am I doing?"  The good thing about this film, is that I believe it reached it's target audience.  I just wish I knew I wasn't on the target, before I went to see it. 

    I've decided to give the film a decent rating, because it wasn't written for me.  Therefore, I can't really make a fair judgement.

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