Haru never quite conforms to their culture and never acquires the skills of a ninja, but is nonetheless good-natured, and persevering in his personal ambitions. His first mission brings him to Beverly Hills to investigate a murder mystery. It was the last film starring Farley to be released in his lifetime, as he died eleven months after its release.[1]
Plot
A clan of ninjas in Japan finds a chest washed onto shore with a white baby boy inside. One of their legends speaks of a foreign white man who would become a master like no other. Haru is raised with the expectation that he become the legendary master. As Haru grows into adulthood, doubts are raised as he is clumsy and lacks ninja skills, and he fails to graduate as a ninja. Left alone to protect the temple while the clan is on a mission, Haru disguises himself as a ninja when an American woman, Sally Jones, comes seeking assistance. She tells Haru she is suspicious of her boyfriend, Martin Tanley, and asks him to investigate. Haru discovers Tanley and his bodyguard, Nobu, are involved in a money counterfeiting business, but is unable to tell Sally before she leaves. Haru takes a plane to Beverly Hills to find Sally. The clan sensei sends Haru's adoptive brother, Gobei, to secretly watch over and protect him during his mission.
Haru checks in at a Beverly Hills hotel and befriends bellboy Joey Washington, and teaches him some ninja lessons. Haru tracks Tanley and Nobu to a nightclub in Little Tokyo, where they attempt to retrieve some counterfeiting plates from their rival gang. The gangs fight, resulting in the deaths of two of the rival gang members, for which Haru finds himself prime suspect. Haru locates Tanley's mansion. He finds Sally and discovers her real name is Alison Page. Alison informs him that Tanley murdered her sister, and she is dating Tanley with a fake name to get evidence. Haru discovers Tanley will be hiring an ink specialist, Chet Walters, to help counterfeit money. Haru disguises himself as Walters and infiltrates Tanley's warehouse. His identity is exposed after failing to properly counterfeit the money and Tanley captures him. While Tanley obtains the other half of the plates from the rival gang, Alison rescues Haru, only to be kidnapped by Tanley. Haru enlists Joey's help to find Tanley's warehouse to rescue Alison. Gobei intervenes without Haru's knowledge and leads them back to the warehouse.
Haru is overwhelmed by Tanley's guards. Gobei reveals himself to Haru and distracts the guards, allowing Haru to rescue Alison. Haru uses a forklift to smash into the room where Alison is locked up with a bomb. Trying to defuse the bomb, Haru accidentally resets it for five minutes. He goes to help Gobei and suddenly snaps, demonstrating amazing martial arts moves which stun Gobei. Haru saves Gobei and defeats several guards. Haru and Gobei are left facing Nobu and two guards. Joey crashes through a window and knocks himself and one of the guards unconscious. Haru and Gobei defeat Nobu and the remaining guard, then fight Tanley. Haru accidentally knocks Gobei unconscious with a sheave, but then forces Tanley to flee. Haru shoots a harpoon mounted on a cart through the room and into the back of a truck in which Tanley is escaping. The harpoon drags the bomb into Tanley's truck and explodes. Haru rescues Alison, while Tanley and his hitmen are arrested by Los Angeles police. Joey is interviewed by a reporter and claims to be "The Great Black Ninja".
Haru tells his sensei he will be living in Beverly Hills with Alison. As Haru and Alison leave for Beverly Hills, a grappling hook falls from the bus and hooks Gobei's wheelchair, causing him to be thrown into the Pacific Ocean. Haru shouts an apology to Gobei.
Dana Carvey was originally attached to play Haru back in 1990.[2]
Box office
In its opening weekend, the film topped the North American box office with $12,220,920. It went on to gross $31,480,418 in North America[3] and $6,393,685 in other territories,[4] for a total of $37,874,103 grossed worldwide.
Reception
Beverly Hills Ninja received generally negative reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 13% from 30 reviews. The site's consensus states: "Far from silent, but comedically deadly, Beverly Hills Ninja proves to be hilarious start to finish."[5] On Metacritic it has a score of 27 out of 100 based on reviews from 11 critics.[6] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade B+ on scale of A to F.[7]
James Berardinelli panned the film, stating that "Beverly Hills Ninja is essentially a one-joke film. That joke has to do with Chris Farley [...], who plays one of the clumsiest men on Earth, crashing into objects or having things fall on his head" and concluded that it "isn't just juvenile, it's lackluster and unfunny."[8]
Bruce Fretts of Entertainment Weekly also criticized the film, complaining it had "...a yawner plot about Farley busting up a yen counterfeiting ring" and that"...when the writers run out of ideas, they simply have Farley walk into a lamppost, or cop from old SNL skits."[9]
A favorable review came from Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle who wrote that it is "not the kind of picture that gets respect from New York critics, but it's funny. [...] This is a movie in which the audience knows half the gags in advance, but thanks to director Dennis Dugan's timing and Farley's execution, the audience doesn't just laugh anyway, but laughs harder... he's too good, too funny and too in control of his out-of-controlness to be a mere buffoon."[10] Leonard Klady of Variety magazine wrote: "This sweet saga of an underachiever who makes good is surprisingly appealing and sure to broaden the portly comic's fan base."[11]
