Beverly Hills Ninja Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Beverly Hills Ninja Blu-ray Movie Review

Keep practicing, Joey, and one day you will choke that chicken."

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown December 27, 2024

With Paramount's recent announcement of Tommy Boy 4K and Kino Lorber following hot on their heels with a press release for Black Sheep 4K, the late Chris Farley is having a bit of a moment. In all likelihood that's why a lesser known, oft-forgotten '90s cult-com sprung to the top of my review queue. That's right, Beverly Hills Ninja, a maybe, definitely, probably, maybe not, well-it-has-good-intentions lightly racist martial arts action comedy that time has sought to bury. But beneath its foppish appearance, low budget and strangely specific jabs at Asian culture and kung fu movies lies a still amusing little flick with a heart of gold. Farley and best bud Adam Sandler always seemed to be in a race to deliver the next great dim-witted-hero-falls-for-hot-girl-and-saves-the-day box office hit, and were it not for Farley's untimely passing, you can imagine the world in which we'd live, where he and Sandler continued to duke it out with unnecessary sequels primed for the masses. Perhaps, and dismiss the possibility if you must, Farley's guest spots on SNL in, let's say, 2016 as an orange-mopped Donald Trump -- set your eyes on the screenshot below and dare to tell me I'm wrong -- would've helped America realize just how turbulent the waters ahead really were. And maybe, just maybe, the election in this alternate universe would've nudged a wee bit sideways and, glory be, a deceptively dim-witted yet extraordinarily talented comedian would have, yes, fallen for a hot girl, but, more importantly, saved the future. No Trump. No Biden to follow. No Trump Redux: The Revenge Tour, and far less Elon Musk. Now what a future that might be...

"Okey dokey, lets see what we got baking in the oven. Yeah, ya, ya, ya, ya. Not yet a match. Ok well, it looks like we are about one degree Celsius off on that ah magenta color. I guess I am gonna have to quantify the 7F reading on this and that would run it through the surface gravity viscosity. Ah, I could plug it into the Marshall formula, and that would ah, that would give me a more accurate mix design. To me they're just a little bit off, what I can do on that is run a pap smear, ah test and than ah, tone it down a little bit."

When an orphaned American boy washes ashore near a village populated by skilled Japanese warriors, they raise the child as one of them and instruct him in the ways of ninjitsu. Unfortunately, he grows up to be the inept, overweight but wholly enthusiastic Haru (Chris Farley), who remains intent on earning his stripes as a real ninja and inheriting the mantle of his forebearers. Haru's first assignment -- protecting a beautiful woman from California named Sally (Nicollette Sheridan) -- doesn't go smoothly, as he's both uncoordinated and completely unaccustomed to Western culture. Fortunately, his sensei sends Haru's adoptive brother, Gobei (Robin Shou, the original Mortal Kombat's Liu Kang), to watch over him. Soon, Haru begins to test his mettle, uncovers a counterfeit money ring, enlists the help of a Beverly Hills bellboy named Joey Washington (Chris Rock), and faces an assortment of villains bound and determined to put Haru and Gobei in the ground.

Beverly Hills Ninja washed ashore in 1997, set to sea by none other than Happy Madison Production's go-to director Dennis Dugan, the... um, steely hand at the helm of Problem Child, Brain Donors and a variety of Adam Sandler comedies, from Happy Gilmore to Big Daddy to Grown Ups and its sequel. (And that's not even mentioning the four-time Golden Raspberry Award winner's best- worst movie, Jack and Jill.) It earned double its budget at the box office and would have certainly earned its own sequel had Farley not tragically succumbed to drug addiction later that same year. Its laughs are many, and exactly the type you'd expect from the Happy Madison family. You should already know whether its your cup of saké or not to your liking. And with Farley surrounded by so many Asian actors, you know exactly what featherweight offensiveness awaits as the delightfully doughy comedian goes fist to fist and kick to kick with a number of famous martial arts faces. But Dugan and co-writers' Mark Feldberg and Mitch Klebanoff's PG-13 warrior is as harmless and joyous as they come, with a surprising amount of heart and humor beating within its chest. It's no Tommy Boy, but I prefer it to Black Sheep, if that's saying anything.

The weak links in the movie are unmistakably Sheridan, whose one expression practically begs us to ask why she's on set, and Nathaniel Parker's bland British villain, which admittedly isn't written to afford the seasoned actor much to do. Rather than aim for broad comedy, it's Farley vs. the straight lacers (minus Soon-Tek Oh, who has fun as Haru's sensei) in an overly serious actioner continually interrupted by Haru's hijinks. Films like Kung Fu Hustle manage to strike the perfect balance in that regard, with the serious bits still poring from comedic springs. Beverly Hills Ninja has one goal and one goal only: give Farley room to work his magic. Only Chris Rock and a handful of other cameo comics are given leave to play in Farley's sandbox, and to solid ends. Rock is especially energetic, but who are we kidding? He almost always plays Chris Rock as Chris Rock (in a one-man show titled "Chris Rock," starring, you guessed it, Chris Rock.) It all barrels along with grade school abandon, slapping the funny bone often enough to deliver at least three gut-busters per act. But you gotta love Big Dumb Fun. Otherwise, what are you even doing here?

Beverly Hills Ninja Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

It appears Sony has granted Beverly Hills Ninja a new remaster. The resulting 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer doesn't show serious signs of age or, really, leave much room for improvement. Colors are bright and poppy, with primaries packing particular punch. Black levels are deep and satisfying as well, with contrast leveling that allows the often-vibrant image to breathe life into the action. Detail holds up, with clean, halo-free edge definition and fairly well-resolved fine textures. Several closeups are especially striking, with plenty of facial subtleties to boot. There are a few times when compression artifacts flitter into view (none worse than during a truck explosion), but such instances are few and far between. It all looks better than I expected. I came away pleased.

Beverly Hills Ninja Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Sony's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track is pretty good as well. Voices are clean and clear, dialogue is intelligible and neatly prioritized, and the soundscape is bursting with plenty of cartoonish effects. LFE output is solid, albeit a touch underwhelming, and the rear speakers are nice and busy, despite the fact that directionality isn't always fully convincing. I suspect the culprit is the original sound design, which is nothing to write home about. But so it goes. Dynamics are at least decidedly decent and the soundfield reasonably immersive.

Beverly Hills Ninja Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary - A new commentary track with director Dennis Dugan

• Trailer (SD, 2 minutes)

Beverly Hills Ninja Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

You could do better than Beverly Hills Ninja but you could certainly do worse. High on its own supply, it still delivers some good laughs and clearly has a blast doing so. Sony's Blu-ray release is a slight mixed bag with a so-so lossless audio track and a thin supplemental package, but its video presentation surprises.