“Revenge of the Ninja” is an irresistibly goofy action movie that delivers a lot of exciting moments. It’s clearly not the height of cinema as an art form but it is very entertaining. The movie is the second in the “Ninja” trilogy starring Shô Kosugi (“Enter The Ninja”) yet it has nothing to with the other films in the series besides starring Kosugi and being about ninjas.

After his family is murdered by ninjas, Cho (Kosugi) leaves Japan for America with his young son (Kane Kosugi “DOA: Dead Or Alive”). He starts his own gallery but becomes an unwitting pawn by heroin smugglers. When his son is kidnapped, he will have no choice but to don his ninja costume and wield his sword one last time.

Shô Kosugi might not be a very good actor but he sure knows how to fight, which is unsurprising when you learn that he was All Japan Karate Champion. He’s not quite as impressive to watch as Jackie Chan (“Rush Hour”) or Jet Li (“Fearless”) but he’s still very entertaining. Kane Kosugi is also a pretty good fighter here despite only being a child. I also like Cho’s mother as the character also gets to fight. This allows us to see an old lady (or at least their stunt double) flipping all over. The villains are a little dull and the thugs in the park are dressed like the Village People for some reason.

“Revenge of the Ninja” features some great action sequences that more than make up for the weak performances. The movie was directed by Sam Firstenberg, who went on to direct “America Ninja”. I can safely say that this movie is significantly better than “American Ninja” because Shô Kosugi can actually fight unlike Michael Dudikoff. “Revenge of the Ninja” is definitely one of the better ninja movies out there and worth checking out for fans of 80s action movies.