Ninja Kids!!! (2011)
"Nintama Rantarô" (original title)

About the adventures of Rantaro and other ninja apprentices at an elite ninjutsu academy.

Director:

Takashi Miike

Writers:

Soubee Amako (manga), Yoshio Urasawa (screenplay)

Stars:

Shidô Nakamura, Naoto Takenaka, Susumu Terajima

Cast

Credited cast:
Shidô Nakamura	...	Father
Naoto Takenaka
Susumu Terajima
Renji Ishibashi
Hiroki Matsukata
Mikijirô Hira
Takahiro Miura
Rei Dan	...	Mother
Seishirô Katô	...	Rantaro
Takuya Mizoguchi
Guama

Storyline

About the adventures of Rantaro and other ninja apprentices at an elite ninjutsu academy.

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Plot Keywords:

ninja | portmanteau | two word title | live action | based on manga | 

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Genres:

Action | Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site [jp]

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

23 July 2011 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Ninja Kids!!!

Company Credits

Production Co:

Amuse Soft Entertainment, Asahi Shimbun Newspaper, The, Dentsu

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Remake of Nintama Rantarô (1993)

User Reviews

Interesting, but...

I went to see this film with my daughter, with little expectations, but a bit of hope, as Miike is always original. I actually watched this movie in Miike's home town, just a bit away from where he was born, and only add this to inform some of the English fans out there how interesting it is, that not only do most Japanese not know who Miike is, even the people in his home town don't know him.

But, to stay on topic, I enjoyed many of the childish fun of this film, along with the great use of ridiculous over the top special effects and make up.

However, I can't really say I enjoyed this film, as I found it very unfocused. This had a charm for a time, but I felt it wore thin eventually, and the fighting for the middle 40 minutes or so of the movie lacked any reason or possibility of resolution. During this middle part, so many characters were introduced, who, although stylistic in appearance, were unnecessary, especially in a children's movie.

Most of the bad guys could have been pushed into one characters, and most of the good guys too. (If you have a chance to see this movie, try and explain why Miike chooses to introduce all the students from 1st to 6th grade, despite the fact that we know, from all that has come before that part, as well as from the Japanese title, that this movie is about Nantaro and the 1st graders) I also really felt that a lot of the FX style was influenced by Stephen Chow's films, and in comparison, not as good.

So, I don't mean to come down too hard on this film, which is appropriate and good enough for 4 - 10 year old to enjoy, with some very anime influenced make-up and costume designs. With the near 2 hour running time for this one, I would bet a 90 minute cut might be good enough to really recommend.

I do hope more people in Japan, and Yao city learn about Miike, but this will not be the movie I show first.