Despite its status as the film that sparked the "ninja movie" boom of the early '80s, Enter the Ninja is a pretty lackluster affair. The first problem is that none of the stars seem right for a martial arts epic: Franco Nero looks uncomfortable as the ninja expert and fails to perform convincingly during the fight scenes, while Susan George is thoroughly wasted as the damsel in distress and Christopher George's villainous character is denied any real participation in the action. Enter the Ninja is further hurt by a clichéd, listless script from Dick Desmond that relies exclusively on stock characterizations and dialogue and only utilizes the ninja angle as a way to spice up a rather dull "evil tycoon plots to steal real estate" premise. Worst of all, director Menahem Golan fails to deliver the kind of slam-bang action that would have made all these mistakes forgivable: Even though a large amount of Enter the Ninja's running time is devoted to fight scenes, they lack the skillful choreography and sharp editing that would give them the visceral punch they truly need. In short, Enter the Ninja might interest hardcore action fans as a curio but is too dull and uninspired to appeal to most viewers. ~ Donald Guarisco, Rovi
