Ninja Assassin opens with its most successful sequence. In a non-descript hideout in Japan, a group of Yakuza gangsters laugh aloud in the manner of mad scientists as an old-timer warns them to be careful, of what – he cannot bring himself to utter the word out loud – ninjas. Suddenly, the men are attacked from the shadows by an invisible and really accurate force, swords and sharpened metal stars sever body parts left and right. The action is rapid-fire and plenty-cartoonish – it favors gouts of CGI blood over the more traditional exploding squibs – but it’s successful because at its essence, it is suitable to its genre.

Unfortunately, the opening scene is the only comfort food served up in Ninja Assassin, a film that might well be as confused as it is confusing.

Thrust into a series of flashbacks, we gather that a boy named Raizo was taken at a young age and trained to be an assassin in a secret training castle high in the mountains. Breaking up the flashbacks, in the present day we meet a pair of Europol agents who think they’ve discovered a pattern to every high-profile assassination in the past hundred years: the very same ancient clan of ninjas. IMDB trivia tells me that writer J. Michael Straczynski was hired to rework a less-than-satisfactory script, pulling off a rewrite in 53 hours, and there’s no doubt that it shows. The dueling timelines feel like a storytelling crutch; perhaps if the story had been told in a more straightforward manner it would hold more impact.

Still, I can suffer any number of contrivances and silly character decision-making if an action film delivers the thrills. I’ll be the first to trumpet a successful visceral experience. Too bad the action scenes onscreen are up-close and in the dark – sure, ninjas hide in the shadows – and much of the time it’s difficult to decipher what who’s fighting who. When I can make out the stunts, the ninja acrobatics by Korean pop-star Rain are impressive enough, and didn’t appear to rely much on wire work.

On the subject of Rain, his transformation from singer to actor seems to be a subject of contention in some circles. Although Rain isn’t an especially emotive actor, I found his performance in Speed Racer held a certain amount of charisma, but I confess I could find none of that charm exhibited here. However, if perpetual shirtlessness can be a skill, he is skilled indeed.

Maybe I like my ninjas old-fashioned, but I didn’t care much for the clash of genres that takes place in director James McTeigue’s Ninja Assassin. Pairing a traditional tale of revenge and redemption with a contemporary government conspiracy thriller was a conflicting choice, and I hope we can all agree from now on that guns have no place in ninja movies. If McTeigue’s film marks the beginning of a ninja comeback, then I’m all for Ninja Assassin as a means to an end, paving the way towards exposing the genre to a new generation of audiences, but let’s hope better and brighter entries lie ahead.