An evil ninja (David Chung) is sent to assassinate a group of men playing golf at a local course. He dispatches them but something goes wrong, and the cops show up, and pretty soon, the ninja is on the run and fighting a battalion of police. He slaughters many of them but in the end, they are too numerous and he’s gunned down. Before he dies, he sends his soul out of his body and enters that of a local aerobics instructor, Christie (Lucinda Dickey), who also happens to be dating a local cop (with maybe the hairiest shoulders in movie history) involved in the shooting. The ninja uses Christie to exact his revenge, murdering the police directly involved in his death. Sensing something is wrong, Christie seeks help and ultimately finds it from another ninja, Yamada (Sho Kosugi), who tells her that only a ninja can kill a ninja. And the fight is on!
This film is full of fun stunt sequences and fisticuffs. There’s lots of flipped cars and plenty of punched-in faces. There’s also a lot of swordplay, throwing stars, and tree-climbing. You get all the ninja action you could ever want, and if you like seeing cops killed in movies, you’ve got quite a treat in store for yourself. The evil ninja is unrelenting, even attacking the funeral of one of the officers he murdered. He doesn’t care. The final fight between him and Kosugi is plenty epic, a battle that is tough and brutal, with just enough aspects of the supernatural to keep things honest. Throw all of this in, along with a great performance by the beautiful Lucinda Dickey, and plenty of Horror moments (having to do with her possession), and you’ve got a nearly perfect B-movie. This one whips along at a rapid pace, fists are flying, feet are kicking, blood is spilt, cars explode, and the cheese is so thick you’ll choke on it. In short, this movie is a home run for entertainment.
Ninja III: The Domination, really has nothing to do with the two films that came before it, but I would submit that it is easily the superior of the series. It’s outlandish and silly and still somehow serious and thrilling. The sheer audacity of having a grown man run around in a ninja outfit on a golf course alone is worth the price of admission, never mind the gratuitous slaughtering that follows. Check your brain at the door, pop a big bowl of popcorn, and settle in for a real treat.
Four Stars out of Four.