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CineMovie gave one lucky winner a chance to win tickets to the Hollywood movie premiere of NINJA ASSASSIN on November 19, 2009 at the Chinese Theater.   Our CineMovie winner writes about her experience at the Hollywood premiere:

My little sister and I arrived early to the premiere, almost 3 hours early, just to find parking and grab something to eat.  We ended up not eating anything but just sightseeing and shopping around the area.  When we got there, there were lots of people across the street, fans of Rain, waiting there for hours, just to see him.  They even had a poster of him for all the fans to sign (I believe it was a Peru group)!

Unfortunately, we had to wait in a line that was to the side of the theater entrance.  I was behind several people, so I did not get a clear view of the red carpet.  Then the security guy told us we couldn’t bring our camera and phone inside.  Totally bumped our night!! My sister had to run to the car to put it away.  It wasn’t until after we got into the theater that we found out it was okay.  I was pissed!!  But, alas, by that time, it was too late.  We had already gotten our tickets and can’t leave and come back inside.  Because of this, we didn’t get to see any celebrities on the red carpet!! It was really my fault since it was the first time and I didn’t know what to do.  However, there were several inside the theater later, along with crewmembers and critics.  I can’t name them but I do recognize their faces.

Inside the theater, the girl that was assigned to our area was very helpful, nice, and polite, even to some people who wouldn’t listen and was kind of being disruptive to others.  Everyone there were every excited to see the premiere.  Everyone needed to be seated first before the main group, consisting of the director and actor, were seated.  I have to admit, the best part about the whole night had to be the people there, especially the fan and I actually really liked them being there to set the moods of the night.  When Rain walked into the theater, they all rushed to see him (they were of course stopped by security) and it was still fun to sit and just watch. 

I actually really did enjoy the film.  I’m no expert, but I can say the CG was really well done.  I didn’t mind that bright red blood either since it fitted with all the CG being used.  Storywise, it wasn’t bad but not that great; could have been better.  It’s not even about how they fitted the ancient ninja village with the modern world; I actually liked that.  It was just that the story behind how he switches from an assassin to being their enemy just wasn’t enough.  I felt that there should have been something more. Also, when he switched, he was still a newbie but suddenly, he’s the greatest ninja out there? There are just too many things missing here that should have at least been hinted at if they can’t show it.  Another thing that was annoying was that Rain didn’t even get all that many lines to speak. I don’t know what’s up with film like this, where the main actor can’t speak clear English so they pretty much took almost all lines from him.  I know Rain can’t speak clear English; I think everyone going in to watch the film knows that and we aren’t actually expecting it.  But it really does ruin his character and put him on the sideline when throughout the film, he had maybe ten lines, if that. 

However, the actions in the film were great! I love how the film played out to be almost like a game. Throughout the film, I’m sitting there thinking of previous Japanese rpg that I’ve playing.  Even his weapon reminded me of features from Heavenly Sword.  The fighting scenes, even though mainly CG, were awesome to see.  There were some features that reminded me of some old Japanese film, especially the ending but I can’t say for sure since I’m no expert. Actually, Rain’s acting and fighting scenes were all really enjoyable to see.  Also, every time he appeared on screen, there would be an excited scream from somewhere, which is soon joined by others.  It weren’t annoying though.  It made watching the film more enjoying because there were others there that were also enjoying the film.

I had my doubt going in, since my previous experience with him was only his music, dancing, and some old Korean dramas that he once did (all which I wasn’t that great a fan of).  This was definitely an improvement to Speed Racer. Overall, the film was a good action film, if not a great film in general.

If given a chance, I would love to do another premiere.  It’s really fun.  This was my first time and I loved it, even though there were confusion and such, in the end, it turned out to be an awesome night!