In his third big-screen assignment, former "Saturday Night Live"-wire Chris Farley plays "an embarrassment to ninjas everywhere" in the self-explanatory "Beverly Hills Ninja".
Little more than an excuse to trot out that old disco standard, "Kung Fu Fighting" (over and over again), the picture offers the usual barrage of Farley run-ins with inanimate objects.
Although Farley's films are pretty much critic-proof, even die-hard fans are going to be hard-pressed to turn this tedious, one-note outing into a theatrical hit, but it will likely kick up some business on video turf.
Sporting a new Moe Howard haircut for the occasion, Farley plays the hapless Haru, the black-sheep adopted member of his dojo who clings to the belief that he could in fact be the legendary Great White Ninja, although there's little evidence to back up the claim.
When a beautiful but mysterious American woman (Nicollette Sheridan) enlists Haru's help in keeping tabs on her shady-dealing husband, he takes up her cause, following her all the way to the "Hills of Beverly" under the protective shadow of his more adept Big Brother, Gobei (Robin Shou).
The change of backdrop offers Farley the opportunity to add swinging from palm trees to his highly physical regimen, but in the absence of usual sidekick David Spade, whose sardonic presence used to temper the buffoonery, and with only a pitch line of a script (credited to Mark Feldberg & Mitch Klebanoff), Farley simply runs wild. He and director Dennis Dugan ("Happy Gilmore") could take a lesson from Jackie Chan in the fine art of physical comedy.
Attempting to get their lines in between all the head-smacking, Sheridan and Chris Rock, who's wasted in the role of a ninja wannabe bellboy, are simply wasting their time here.
Tech support is nothing special, while music supervision shows little imagination (aside from a Patti Rothberg rendition of "Kung Fu Fighting") with overplayed tracks from the likes of War, ZZ Top and Right Said Fred.
BEVERLY HILLS NINJA
TriStar
A Motion Picture Corp. of America
production
in association with Brad Krevoy & Steve Stabler
Director Dennis Dugan
Producers Brad Krevoy, Steve Stabler,
Brad Jenkel
Screenwriters Mark Feldberg,
Mitch Klebanoff
Executive producers Jeffrey D. Ivers,
John Bertolli, Michael Rotenberg
Director of photography Arthur Albert
Production designer Ninkey Dalton
Editor Jeff Gourson
Costume designer Mary Claire Hannan
Music George S. Clinton
Casting Gary M. Zuckerbrod
Color/stereo
Cast:
Haru Chris Farley
Alison Nicollette Sheridan
Tanley Nathaniel Parker
Sensei Soon-Tek Oh
Joey Chris Rock
Gobei Robin Shou
Running time -- 90 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
Little more than an excuse to trot out that old disco standard, "Kung Fu Fighting" (over and over again), the picture offers the usual barrage of Farley run-ins with inanimate objects.
Although Farley's films are pretty much critic-proof, even die-hard fans are going to be hard-pressed to turn this tedious, one-note outing into a theatrical hit, but it will likely kick up some business on video turf.
Sporting a new Moe Howard haircut for the occasion, Farley plays the hapless Haru, the black-sheep adopted member of his dojo who clings to the belief that he could in fact be the legendary Great White Ninja, although there's little evidence to back up the claim.
When a beautiful but mysterious American woman (Nicollette Sheridan) enlists Haru's help in keeping tabs on her shady-dealing husband, he takes up her cause, following her all the way to the "Hills of Beverly" under the protective shadow of his more adept Big Brother, Gobei (Robin Shou).
The change of backdrop offers Farley the opportunity to add swinging from palm trees to his highly physical regimen, but in the absence of usual sidekick David Spade, whose sardonic presence used to temper the buffoonery, and with only a pitch line of a script (credited to Mark Feldberg & Mitch Klebanoff), Farley simply runs wild. He and director Dennis Dugan ("Happy Gilmore") could take a lesson from Jackie Chan in the fine art of physical comedy.
Attempting to get their lines in between all the head-smacking, Sheridan and Chris Rock, who's wasted in the role of a ninja wannabe bellboy, are simply wasting their time here.
Tech support is nothing special, while music supervision shows little imagination (aside from a Patti Rothberg rendition of "Kung Fu Fighting") with overplayed tracks from the likes of War, ZZ Top and Right Said Fred.
BEVERLY HILLS NINJA
TriStar
A Motion Picture Corp. of America
production
in association with Brad Krevoy & Steve Stabler
Director Dennis Dugan
Producers Brad Krevoy, Steve Stabler,
Brad Jenkel
Screenwriters Mark Feldberg,
Mitch Klebanoff
Executive producers Jeffrey D. Ivers,
John Bertolli, Michael Rotenberg
Director of photography Arthur Albert
Production designer Ninkey Dalton
Editor Jeff Gourson
Costume designer Mary Claire Hannan
Music George S. Clinton
Casting Gary M. Zuckerbrod
Color/stereo
Cast:
Haru Chris Farley
Alison Nicollette Sheridan
Tanley Nathaniel Parker
Sensei Soon-Tek Oh
Joey Chris Rock
Gobei Robin Shou
Running time -- 90 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
- 1/20/1997
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.