Dr. Stewart and her colleagues are seeking a long sought-after treasure but some villains employing ninjas -both the living kind and the undead kind- stand in their way. It’s up to government agent and martial arts expert Magneta Faze (William Lee) and his teenage genius sidekick Monique to save the day. That’s two sentences of a novel’s worth of plot summed up for you, the reader. But wait, there’s more! There’s also break-dancing, back flips, gratuitous nunchucks, a mind-bending romantic subplot, and a nausea-inducing helicopter blade synthesizer sound that’ll put hair on your chest. This is the buddy ninja movie you’ve been looking for if you’re an alien.
My biggest problem with Treasure of the Ninja is its one hour and 45 minute length. While the dialog is always amazing and the cast and crew are extremely energetic, the film can’t maintain its brazen momentum for my patience’s sake. This is hopelessly convoluted and that’s part of what I love about it. Every plot point and every twist are explained (sometimes twice) by either dialog or narration. This also has more characters in it than those Atlas Shrugged movies. The biggest trait of the film that made me feel every minute of its run time is the technical limitations from filming on Super 8 film and then editing that footage on video. Treasure of the Ninja looks like it’s being broadcast from an underground bunker from a dial-up modem and not in a good way. However, I’d be lying if I didn’t find all of this very endearing, if not entirely pleasing to my aging eyes.
The AGFA Blu-ray of Treasure of the Ninja looks and sounds exactly like you’d expect. Thank goodness for the subtitles. Even though the film was shot silent and dubbed in post, the audio is still pretty rough, and the dialog takes A LOT of concentration to understand. In terms of extras, the disc is packed with films by William Lee, one is an hour-long kung-fu actioner and the others are short subjects, usually featuring kung-fu of some kind. The commentary track with Annie Choi and Joseph Ziemba of Bleeding Skull sitting down with the director to discuss how this film came to life is absolutely essential listening, especially for aspiring filmmakers. Lee is very enthusiastic about discussing his career and all the amazing details behind the production of Treasure. If you love passion projects made by folks with a good heart and ambitions that exceed their budget by a jaw-dropping degree, then check this one out.