Beverly Hills Ninja

Summary

“He’s fat, he’s a fool, and he’s an embarrassment to ninjas everywhere.”

Sony Pictures has recently given Beverly Hills Ninja, a 1997 vehicle for the late great Chris Farley, a Blu-ray release. Given the limited amount of pictures that Chris Farley starred in before his death, it made sense that the label would want to give admirers of the hilarious former Saturday Night Live actor a chance to own one of his last films. I had not revisited the movie since it was released, and my oldest son was game to check it out with me. We both love Tommy Boy, so we gave it a spin. I will say that I had remembered it being pretty terrible from when I saw it as a kid, and sadly, Beverly Hills Ninja is still extremely underwhelming. This release is going to appeal to fans of the film and people with an itch to scratch for some nostalgic physical comedy, but I would recommend not setting your expectations too high if you have not seen the film.

Twenty five years ago, a white baby landed on the shores of a Japanese island in a box. He was raised by a clan of ninjas as one of their own. They hoped that he would be the greatest ninja of them all, because of a prophecy written in scrolls from the sixteenth century foretelling a great white master ninja. Their hopes were misplaced. The boy, named Haru, is a well-meaning but clumsy and ungraceful child, who grows up to be a well meaning but clumsy and ungraceful adult (Chris Farley.) His brother Gobei (Robin Shou) and the rest of the clan find Haru to be totally inept, whereas Gobei is an exceptional ninja. When the ceremony comes for Haru and the other members of the dojo to be dubbed “ninjas,” Haru is passed over by his sensei (despite his obvious affection for him.) While the ninja are out on a mission, a woman named Sally Jones (Nicollette Sheridan) visits the dojo and asks for Haru’s assistance. Haru quickly accepts the task at hand with hopes of proving that he is capable of becoming a ninja. He also accidentally destroys nearly every sacred artifact and scroll in the dojo through a series of idiotic mistakes. Haru goes to the docks and listens in on a meeting between some counterfeiters who have received half of the plates they need to make some bills. During the meeting, Martin Tanley (Nathaniel Parker) kills a man. Haru inadvertently finds himself running from the police who beleive that a ninja must have been involved in the man’s death. At the dojo, the sensei (Soon-Tek Oh) reveals that the woman who had visited the dojo was really named Allison Jones and that she came from Beverly Hills. Haru decides to go to Beverly Hills because of a matchbook that lists a hotel there. The sensei sends Haru’s begrudging big brother Gobei to watch out for him. Upon arriving in Beverly Hills, Haru befriends a hotel bellboy named Joey (Chris Rock) who wants to learn his lessons of how to become a ninja. Haru resumes his mission of helping Allison (whom he calls Sally,) who clearly does not want his assistance, while Gobei watches out for him from a series of disguises.

Beverly Hills Ninja is pretty damn bad. Despite Chris Farley’s best intentions, the film’s script is basically one joke repeated over and over again for an hour and a half. The film isn’t needlessly unpleasant, although there are some scenes that might feel a little bit over-the-top for family viewing (a nightclub sequence in particular raised my eyebrows for a second) which stick out considering the rest of the humor is aimed squarely at nine year olds. The basic premise of the plot is a funny one and as paint by numbers as the beats of the script are, I had no problem with what the script was trying to do. The problem with the movie is that the film relies almost entirely on extremely basic comedic concepts like pratfalls for the duration of its runtime. The occasional pratfall can be pretty funny, but the film seems to have no idea what else to do with its star except make him fall down repeatedly. Chris Farley showed comedic flair and a solid ability to convey emotion in Tommy Boy. I mean, that script allowed the audience to experience one of the saddest montages in film history when Tommy loses his father. The image of him fishing alone still resonates with me. Beverly Hills Ninja has no depth whatsoever and suffers from wasting the talents of those involved. The performances are for the most part stilted, but that is because the script is so weak. Chris Rock is completely wasted in the film, which is a shame. Robin Shou, who was hot off the success of Mortal Kombat, is solidly cast as his brother, but the action sequences don’t quite show off the talents he displayed in that film. Nicolette Sheridan is not given much to work with either. 

As a fan of Chris Farley, it is sad that this film could not better capitalize on his raw comedic talents. I will always consider him to be one of the funniest members to ever grace Saturday Night Live. If you want to see him at his finest, just look up some clips of him on Letterman instead.

Video

Beverly Hills Ninja has been released by Sony onto Blu-ray in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1in 1080p. Shot by cinematographer Arthur Albert, the film looks similar to other pictures he worked on such as Surf Ninjas and Happy Gilmore. The film is effectively shot, if not overly stylish. It looks very much of its time, but I assume that will be some of the appeal for those who seek it out. The color timing of the film is reference quality and the grain is very well resolved. Fans of the picture will be very pleased with the picture quality. Sony’s usual attention to detail is evident on this release.

Audio

The DTS-HD MA 5.1 track is reference quality. Clarity is excellent, and the compositions by George S. Clinton are given a nice boost. Don’t expect the track to completely blow you away, but it is fairly active given some action-comedy situations that occur in the film. I have no complaints.

Supplements:

• Audio Commentary with director Dennis Dugan
• Theatrical Trailer

Overall Scores:

Video: 4.5/5

Audio: 4.5/5

Supplements: 2.5/5

Overall – 3/5

Beverly Hills Ninja completely wastes the great comedic talents of Chris Farley and the cast that surrounded him (including Chris Rock, Nicolette Sheridan, and Robin Shou.) It’s a shame that Farley wasn’t given better material to work with, because when he was given great material he was truly a phenomenon. The script itself has a plot that could work, but the jokes are one note and repetitive. That said, I appreciate that Sony Pictures has given fans of the film (who probably saw the picture as children) a chance to own it on Blu-ray. The Sony Pictures Blu-ray features great video, solid audio, and a commentary track. I can’t recommend this film at all, but if you are a fan of it, the Blu-ray will definitely be worth adding to your collection. 

The film can be purchased at www.moviezyng.com.