I’m a big fan of the Wachowski Brothers (perhaps now just Wachowskis?).

Ever since they blew our minds with ‘The Matrix’ over a decade ago, their movies have been on my Most Anticipated list, and I have always attempted to catch those movies in the theater.

I saw ‘The Matrix Reloaded’ five times and ‘The Matrix Revolutions’ three time (twice in the same day). While I caught ‘V For Vendetta’ once, it was in IMAX, and while that format was overkill for this film, ‘Vendetta’ did feature a criminally underappreciated script by the Wachowskis and tight direction from rookie James McTeigue.

I took my son to see ‘Speed Racer’, the first kids movie I have seen in forever that did not dumb things down and actually made an attempt to be innovative. Although ‘Speed Racer’ was a financial and critical disappointment, it is a movie that I enjoy more every time I watch it (and the racing sequences and use of colors are amazing in the film).

I even bought ‘The Invasion’ on DVD when I heard the Wachowskis and McTeigue were brought in to tighten things up on the script and film additional scenes (on roughly 33% of the film).

So I was slightly disappointed when I discovered that their next movie project only had them in the role of producers. ‘Ninja Assassin’ stars South Korean pop singer Rain (who had a role in ‘Speed Racer’) as Raizo, is directed by James McTeigue, and features a script co-written by J. Michael Straczynski.

Although I never got a chance to catch this one in the theaters, I knew I would purchase the DVD. And, after all, with a title like ‘Ninja Assassin’ and a dynamite creative team behind the movie, surely it would be a great action flick?

Surely?

It’s all about managing your expectations. If you go in thinking that you’re going to see the next ‘Matrix’, or a movie on par with ‘The Hurt Locker’ or ‘Inglorious Basterds’, you will be flat-out disappointed. ‘Ninja Assassin’ never aspires to such highbrow levels of cinematic significance. The acting throughout the movie is flat; Rain fails to emote most of the time, and Naomie Harris must have wanted an easy paycheck because she brings nothing unique to the role of Mika.

Sho Kosugi, the leader of the clan from which Rain’s character defects, is menacing but fairly one-note. Only actor Ben Miles, playing Mika’s boss, brings some quality of energy to the role, even if it is in brief spurts.

The plot has all of the depth of a crepe. Raizo defects from the ninja clan, and barely escapes with his life. The fact that he was even allowed to escape, and not hunted to death immediately, seems hard to believe. Mika stumbling upon the existence of the ninja clan, and even pursuing it with the fervor she does (or what passes for fervor in the film), is not developed enough and fails to be convincing. Even the abilities the ninjas have, some of them bordering on superhuman (such as healing), is never explored to any great depth.

And that’s part of the overall problem with ‘Ninja Assassin’ – you can see where there some decent ideas and potential for a better movie, but it never goes far enough. The structure of Raizo’s life now and flashing back to his training in his youth is a good one, but the pacing if just off and it never gels.

Where ‘Ninja Assassin’ really works is as an homage to those old, poorly dubbed martial arts flicks we caught as children on television on Saturday or Sunday afternoon. The real draw to those movies – as is the case here – is not the plot, but the fight scenes. Everything you need to know about the film is right in the prologue: people dying in some awful and unique ways with loads and loads of digital blood.

The fights are frenetic, rapid-fire scene jumps and weaponry (and body parts) flying everywhere with the occasional drop into bullet time. This is where McTeigue’s directing shines, as he has a good eye on how to put together a great action scene. But, considering ninjas are supposed to, you know, strike from the shadows, a number of the fight scenes are too dark for their own good.

The DVD edition is very disappointing in the features department; only several deleted scenes are included. If you own a Blu-Ray player, you can get that version which contains a number of extras, such as looking at Rain’s training and some historical detail that serves as a backdrop for the film.

‘Ninja Assassin’ is not a great film, but neither is it a dire one. If you switch your brain off and just go into it as a popcorn flick where ninjas go about their business, then you should be fine. If you go in expecting a sharp script and fine acting, you’ll be disappointed.

There is a decent movie in there, and McTeigue does a great job with what he is given, but the lost potential is all-too apparent.