It's hard to fathom how an action comedy that promises ninjas and all the makings of a spy thriller could fail to entertain, but "Norwegian Ninja" still manages to fall flat. I just don't see this Norwegian comedy translating well with American audiences or at least not nearly as well as it did in its native Norway.
The film is very loosely based off of real-life Cold War spy Arne Treholt who was imprisoned for espionage in the mid-1980s. "Norwegian Ninja" plays out as a Scandinavian history lesson run amok. Of course, not being too privy to the political schema of Norway in 1984, I felt that I was automatically at a disadvantage. That may be part of the reason some of the jokes didn't land with me.
One of the running gags in the film is how the ninjas always appear amid a cloud of smoke. Admittedly, it's funny the first handful of times, but the film abuses the gag relentlessly throughout. As the film progresses, it delves into more and more of a borderline drug-induced trippy status. Not to mention, the plot becomes a convoluted mess the more bizarre the film becomes.
Given the title, I was also surprised to find that there weren't nearly enough ninja antics for my liking. It's definitely more of a send-up of James Bond than it is of Bruce Lee. In fact, outside of maybe one or two scenes in-particular, "Norwegian Ninja" is nearly void of all martial-arts goodness, which is a shame because I feel the movie could have benefited comically from badly dubbed voiceovers and neck-breaking hand-to-hand combat.
Despite the laundry list of oddball sequences, I still admire the experimental nature in which the film was shot. I don't think I fully understand the Norwegian brand of humor, but I can definitively say that at least "Norwegian Ninja" is a one-of-a-kind film — that is to say it strays far from the beaten path of conventional Hollywood filmmaking.
To continue with the positives, the cinematography is incredible — a brilliant mix of location shooting, archival news clips and bizarre interludes equipped with detailed dioramas. The Norwegian landscape serves as the perfect backdrop for this espionage period piece. It's simply a gorgeously vibrant movie, like a comic book sprung to life. Unfortunately, spectacular visuals don't necessarily translate to a spectacular film.
First-time writer/director Thomas Cappelen Malling shows flashes of brilliance in this, but I would like to see him helm a film with more of a universal appeal for his second outing. Unless you are brushed up on your Scandinavian history there's not much to get out of what stands to be a fairly uneventful action comedy.
In terms of extras, the DVD is pretty bare bones. There's no insert included and the bonus section is equipped with the usual: a handful of deleted scenes and featurettes. I was surprised and disappointed to find no commentaries included on this, just an interview with Malling. I enjoyed the behind-the-scenes vignettes and the music video in the promos section was pretty neat. Overall though, nothing out of the ordinary.
Film: 2.5 Yaps Extras: 3 Yaps