On A List of Movie Reviews
(For optimum viewing, adjust the zoom level of your browser to 125%.)
American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt (1989)
Rate:
2
Viewed:
9/04, 3/06, 3/22
3/06:
Armed with a new lead star and a new director, American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt is still the same crap with the same story.
It's comical to see the bad guys practically letting the good guys win. The phony fight scenes, with ninjas acting as
pushovers, have lowered the entertainment value as well.
Steve James is obviously the show, but he alone isn't enough. David Bradley has more lines than Michael Dudikoff ever
did in the first two films which is an amazing feat. Yet he still blows. It's been bewildering how this franchise had survived
for so long.
All in all, fake karate moves, lame villains, trash plot, and bland heroes are the hallmarks of a bad martial arts movie,
and American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt is just that.
3/22:
Having seen American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt over five times, it never gets better.
What was everybody thinking when they changed the lead actor from Michael Dudikoff to David Bradley? I wasn't asking for
much, but Dudikoff was perfectly fine, stoic personality and all. It's just that Steve James needed more screen time
for the benefit of the film. The story is that the real American Ninja got tired of doing martial arts and didn't want to
work in South Africa again while the apartheid movement was ongoing.
David Bradley for the Joe Armstrong-like role is a big step down in all aspects. He has no ninja skills to begin with and
seems to have learned some martial arts from a four-weekend course at the local YMCA with some streetfighting lessons thrown
in for a bonus. Apparently, Sean can use Jedi mind tricks to expel the virus from his body; will it work for COVID-19, too?
If he can't dispatch the ninjas with ease, then how is he a one to begin with?
The second biggest mistake is Evan...Ivan...whatever J. Klisser for the role of Dexter. It's absolutely not necessary. Steve
James is also terrible, having to resort to the lame "oh well, we're going to have to wait longer" shtick while appearing tired
of doing more sequels. His usual charm is lost as well, and he looks too muscular which leads me to think that's how he died
of pancreatic cancer at age 41.
If there's anybody who should get a special mention, it's Marjoe Gortner who plays Cobra. He's famous for an Oscar-winning
documentary film called Marjoe which chronicles his Pentecostal preaching lifestyle, having become an ordained preacher
at age 4 which is the youngest ever known.
The plot is flat and is a repeat of the previous film. The ninjas are terrible. Worse is the editing. For example, if somebody
is going to fall from a high-rise building, it's obvious what will happen next, but the editor wants to show the body lying down
on the ground afterwards. Jeez, other scenes are like that, too. When the genetically-engineered ninja clones are
standing like mannequins, I can see them moving while struggling to stay still.
All in all, American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt shouldn't have been green-lit in the first place if Michael Dudikoff wasn't
going to come back with Steve James at his worst.