Blu-ray Review – Ninja in the Claws of the C.I.A.

To understand what's going on in 1981's "Ninja in the Claws of the C.I.A." requires a level of concentration most movies wouldn't dare demand from viewers. It's another offering of confusion and directorial indifference from martial arts star John Liu ("New York Ninja"), who assigns himself a James Bond-esque role in this actioner, which takes viewers around the world as the helmer madly scrambles to assemble something close to comprehensible. "Ninja in the Claws of the C.I.A." tries to approximate the atmosphere of a superspy thriller, blending in plenty of physical fights and betrayals to keep things interesting. However, Liu can only do so much with the picture, which looks like it was stitched together from three different features, keeping up on eye-crossing moves in plot and tone to a point where nothing registers as intentional anymore. It's a big mess, but Liu's enthusiasm for it all is something to see. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com