User reviews

My Rating : 7/10

Chris Farley is funny as hell as Haru the orphan ninja!

Some mindless entertainment when you just want to chill. Greatly recommended.

It's hard for me to review this movie without prejudice because to me, Chris Farley is the funniest person I have ever seen. Even though my adoration of the late comedian precludes me from giving a impartial rating of this movie, I can at least admit that this isn't one of his best efforts (I still loved this movie, it's just not my favourite Farley flick). Nevertheless, I'm going to take the easy way out and say: Come on, take it for what it is, a Chris Farley movie.

Farley plays Haru, an orphan adopted at birth by a clan of ninjas. He is raised under the pretenses that he is the Great White Ninja. Needless to say, his development is much anticipated by his teachers . Unfortunately, to the dismay of everyone, he grows up to be overweight and klutzy. While the ninja graduates are out celebrating, Haru finds himself alone at the retreat when a mysterious woman (Nicollette Sheridan) enters looking for help. Believing Haru to be a ninja, she hires him to spy on her boyfriend, an assignment he accepts with great enthusiasm. Hot on the boyfriend's trail, Haru witnesses a murder and eventually ends up in Beverly Hills. Surviving on dumb luck and a designated guardian ninja, Haru never gives up on his task.

Like I said before, this isn't Farley's greatest contribution to his comedic resume. But make no mistake, this is a funny movie. Farley's bread and butter is his propensity to bumble and stumble in any given situation - walking into poles, falling down stairs, crushing coffee tables, etc. Since his character is expected to be agile and sleek, the comedy in "Beverly Hills Ninja" is that much funnier. The exact same formula worked for Farley's SNL character Barney, the Chippendale's hopeful.

Many critics felt that, by this time, Farley was a one-trick-pony whose act had nothing more to offer than jokes involving head and groin injuries. Perhaps his choice in films were poor but to don't deny him the recognition of his talent is unfair. Watch the movie and you'll see Farley display all the qualities of a great comedian: intelligence, timing, pathos. He was a tremendous talent and I will miss him very much.

The kind of film which throws jokes at you by the second in the hope that some will stick, this film is funny make no mistake. Chris Farley had his 'bumbling fat bloke' routine down to a tee after excursions in Tommy Boy, Black Sheep and Airheads and this is same type of daft humour. Not brilliant by any means but is worth watching for a giggle if you can find the time.

I myself happen to be a fifth degree black belt (godan) and on many occasions have felt as goofy and clumsy as Farley's character in this funny gem. I truly love this movie, except it really saddens me to think Farley is not with us anymore. This guy was great. Rest in Peace big fellow. Thanks for this great, silly, funny movie.

I am by no means a Chris Farley fan, I'm not sure why some people think he is so funny, most of his humor seems so forced and just makes him look like an idiot. But my boyfriend just kept on telling me how funny this movie was and was tormenting me on how I wouldn't give this film a chance, so finally I just decided to go ahead and see what it was about. Now that I've seen it, while I think it is still very stupid and has some of the worst acting that I've ever seen in my life, I think this was one of those films that it was so bad that it was good. I think the only thing that really made me laugh about this film was Robin Shou, I haven't seen him in any other film other than Mortal Kombat, so it was amusing to see him in this film. He was so serious in this film and that his character as a ninja getting into these silly situations was just priceless. Chris Farley was alright, I have to admit that I could actually stand him in the film, I know that sounds bad, but from me, trust me, that's a compliment.

Haru is the fat, white ninja, he was raised by the ninja master and has never succeeded at being a ninja like his brother, Gobei. But when Haru meets a girl who names herself, Sally Jones, she needs help from a ninja to find out if her boyfriend is a murderer. It turns out that he is also in a big counter fitting scam and Haru wants to help her out and goes to Beverly Hills to find a way to capture him. With the secret help of his brother and his protégé, Joey, Haru will help his "dove" and learn the life of a ninja in Beverly Hills.

Over all Beverly Hills Ninja is a stupid movie, it has bad acting, and a silly story, but for some reason I did laugh a few times. It made the film kind of enjoyable, even for a Chris Farley film. I think my favorite part was the Japanese kitchen scene where we see Robin Shou dressed as a woman and how Chris Farley accidentally kills a guy who is about to kill him. So give this a look if you are interested in seeing a silly comedy, that's pretty much what Beverly Hills Ninja is.

4/10

It is undeniable in saying that Chris Farley has a presence on the big screen. He offers another gem of a performance in this one.

He was found on a stormy night be Sensei and was named "Haru", the prophisized "Great White Ninja". The beginning of the film shows him training to be a ninja, with such funny stunts as him trying to lift a burning cauldron with his open forearms, spilling it all over the others. On the day of truth, he is not selected to graduate and become a ninja.

The plot of the story is simply this - He is proposed by Allison Page to help her in a steal mission against a "counterfeiter". Not all goes to plan when he witnesses a killing. He uses the matchbook that Allison gave him to determine that he must go to Beverly Hills in her aid.

Little things like Farley leaving his shoes at the door of the hotel everytime he enters (and the janitor sweeping them up everytime) shows his native roots. The director was great at adding such small but noticeable tendencies to make it more realistic.

Farley walks around looking for Allison dressed as a pimp - he is supposed to blend in with the locals - but that is not a good way to do it. All the while Gobbei, the best ninja declared by Sensei can be seen on the otherhand with his face painted to look like he is part of a statue. Throughout the movie he helps Haru and is his "shadow" to make sure he succeeds in his mission without Haru knowing he is being helped.

Now forget the plot, it isn't going to win any awards. The meat of the film - what you really are there to see is Chris Farley pull off his hijinx. Funny scenes such as when he is in a Beverly Hills strip joint and he is up on stage and sees a hot stripper, he shakes his fists and says repeatedly "I am one with the universe, I am one with the universe" as a ninja SHOULD be, but he cannot resist her and starts dancing along side her, comically rubbing his nipples and then revealing his tight white undershirt which he attempts to rip. The crowd of men, all the while are cheering for him and he falls off the stage flat on his back breaking a table and is thrown out by the bouncers. Then when two men are shot out the buildings window by Tanley's goons and land by the garbage where "Haru" has been pushed, an Asian ladies repeatedly screams out the window which is classic and made me laugh. Another great scene is when Farley staying on his quest to help foil Tanley's plan, goes in disguise into a Japanese restaurant as a sushi cook person. This is the funniest point in the film and involves Farley flipping a shrimp down a woman's dress and he pulls it from her breasts, sniffing it and making some sort of funny comment. The final funny scenes is his pretending to be the money printing guy - I won't go into much but this was the best part of the movie and near the end too.

I like the soundtrack, from "I'm too sexy" to "Kung Fu Fighting", it was great.

We see little of Chris Rock in this movie, a hotel employee who wants to learn how to become a ninja like Haru, and chases chickens to learn. It was Farley's spotlight and so deserved. Farley R.I.P.

The title is "Beverly Hills Ninja" and part of the filming location is really in Beverly Hills. Some of the filming was done at The Hindu Temple - 1600 Las Virgenes, Calabasas, California, USA

Joseph Campbell would be proud of this "coming of age" hero story.

Haru (Chris Farley) is a ninja school dropout. He still maintains a positive attitude. He gets an opportunity to help Sally, a lady in distress (Nicollette Sheridan). His mission will eventually take him to the hills of Beverly. Sensei (Soon Tek Oh) is like a father to him. Sensei realizing, he cannot sway Haru from his mission sends another ninja, Gobei (Robin Shou) who is Haru's spiritual brother to quietly help.

On this mission, Haru, Gobei, and Sensei learn more about themselves.

I thought this movie was funny (LOL funny) and creative. Very Creative. Almost to creative though, Example of being too creative: The Master of Disguise, (horrible movie). It also has mostly guy humor. I looked what girls under 18 thought about this movie and it said the average rating was 3.6. If your a teenage boy though, I think you will enjoy this movie.

This is definitely one of the least funny movies I've ever seen. I didn't expect much from a Farley movie, but I had never imagined it would be so bad. Even Chris Rock can't save this turd with his comedic genius. In fact, he didn't even make me laugh once. The plot is ridiculous. It relies on the totally unbelievable setting of a white fat guy trying to be a ninja, even though he is unrealistically clumsy, very ignorant and fairly retarded. It also makes everyone else in the film look like a grade A moron, everyone from the Sensei who would have thrown him out immediately, to the black bellboy who is convinced that he is a true ninja, even though he is as clumsy and incompetent as he is. The acting lies on a level somewhere between horrible and untalented. The characters are all stereotypes, and all seem to be equally stupid. The script is awful, and it puts the characters in a totally unbelievable amount of unrealistic, ridiculous scenes that would never happen in real life, and to top it off, are horribly unfunny. The only thing that raises this movie above the lowest rating of 1, is the scene near the end that has Chris Farley fight with martial arts against some enemies that are actually skilled at it, to the tune of "Kung Fu fighting". That, unlike everything else in the movie, actually made me, not only smile and snicker, but laugh out loud at the sheer ludicrousness of the scene. Apart from that funny but too short scene, nothing in this movie is worth watching. Apart from, maybe, the female lead character, who is quite attractive. I recommend this to no one but the least criticizing people, and maybe children, as they may find it funny. Most other people should avoid this like the plague. 2/10

This film is great for fans of Chris Farley. Since I am a fan I liked it more than most people would. But if I really look at this movie as a normal moviegoer and not biased I'd say it's a silly, messy, clumsy piece of work.

The story is just there to show off Chris Farley's goofiness which it does quite well. None of it believable for a second but I don't think it is supposed to be.

The music used throughout fits it good enough. The acting is average at best. Of all Farley movies this is one of the best.

Overall I would definitely recommend this film to fan's of Farley's antics. See it for that reason only.

Please forgive the length of this first paragraph, but it is needed to explain my opinion of this film. I never saw this film in the theater; it looked a little silly to me. One day a few months later it came on pay-per-view. Due to a technical glitch the cable company unscrambled the pay-per-view channels all day long. It also happened to be raining and generally miserable out, so my buddies and I decided to watch this movie. We had three pay-per-view channels, and one of the channels showed a single movie all day long. Guess which movie it was.

The first time we watched it, we thought it was goofy, even stupid, and didn't really care for it. However like many teens, we mindlessly watched it again . . . and again . . . and again. We watched this film all day. "Why?" you ask; because it truly gets better every time you watch it.

I think the reason is because this is a stupid film, and when you first watch it, you're too smart for it. Eventually though the IQ points seep out of your head, and you're able to fully enjoy this great movie.

The bottom line: Watch this film at least 5 times, not necessarily back-to-back but it helps. It will grow on you. Even if you don't like Farley, watch this film for Chris Rock. Rock's performance is perfect, despite being too small of a role. Farley's performance is perfect as the bumbling but good-hearted "Great White Ninja." Even the chicken's performance is perfect. If you find the concept of a fat, white ninja involved in an Asian gang war mildly provocative, check your brain at the door and enjoy.

Chris Farley himself hated this movie and never wanted to make such a movie again. He died shortly after that so I guess his wish is fullfilled. That aside I think Beverly Hills Ninja is just for people that enjoy absurd humor. I'm one of those people. The truth is that the story isn't the greatest thing ever written, but if you enjoy watching Chris Farley's stupid and weird grimaces then you might have some fun. I have to admit I laughed quite a bit, even though it isn't the greatest humor. I guess Chris Farley has one of those faces that makes me laugh. RIP Chris Farley, who died way too early.

Even now, over 20 years since I witnessed this horror I still occasionally wake, sweating, heart pounding as I remember this film. Some films are so bad they're funny this is just a video nasty. Up there with snuff or films on the Holocaust. I argued with my uni mates over watching the entire film, we watched it all and I can't forgive them. I don't find Chris Farley funny even when he's funny. I can't even be bothered finishing this review it's so bad.

There has'nt been one Chris Farley movie I have'nt had a good time watching!I think this is a really funny and enjoyable comedy that everyone can enjoy!I highly recommend seeing it if you have'nt already!



Final Verdict:A(96%) what you'd expect out of a Chris Farley movie!

After this movie was completed, Farley publicly stated that he hated it... and for good reason.

The plot was way over the top from the first frame. A fat white bumbling ninja would have been booted from the dojo on his first day... and likely killed.

The film took full advantage of Farley's physical comedy prowess, but it took it way too far. Virtually every scene made Farley's character into a bumbling fool, while the other characters seem to just shrug his behavior off as normal.

While Nicky Sheridan made great eye candy, and Soon Tek O is a great actor in his own right, they could not save this film from drowning in its own inanity.

If you want to see a good Chris Farley film, stick with Tommy Boy.

The Late Chris Farley, is the main reason why you should watch 'Beverly Hills Ninja'. Farley's films have always been comedies. Right from the cult-classic 'Tommy boy, to 'Black sheep', 'Almost Heroes' and 'Beverly Hills Ninja'. And in all those films, he has excelled.

'Beverly Hills Ninja' tells the story of Haru, played by Farley, who was found by a clan of ninjas as an infant in an abandoned treasure chest and was raised by them. He 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 recent murder.

Now, if your a person who only enjoys 'Intelligent' & 'Real' Cinema, I'd say, Do Not watch this comedy. It's not meant for you. But for those, who admire comedy to the fullest, should not miss this. Sure, some jokes are kiddish, but some jokes, especially towards the finale, manage to bring in laughs.

Dennis Dugan has the directed the film fairly. Acting wise: It's Farley who really owns the film. He excels and comes across as cute and soft. If Farley lived more, I am sure, he would have gone a legend.

Miss you Farley!

Totally unfunny..........I may have laughed once. Or twice. More stupid than anything. It did have one redeeming factor: David Spade wasn't in it. Although, if I had to watch this movie again, I would probably WANT him in it. But David Spade will go on to do his own unfunny movies, as I have found out. If you like Chris Farley you'll probably at least sit thru this mess, unless you want to watch some other unfunny comic's, i.e. watch a David Spade movie, or a Adam Sandler movie, or a Pauly Shore movie.....now THOSE would be a real waste of time. Why do I have to have 10 lines of text when I can't think of anything else to say about this movie except it's BAD???

The kind of film which throws jokes at you by the second in the hope that some will stick, this film is funny make no mistake. Chris Farley is a bumbling idiot and plays his character well. Not brilliant by any means but is worth watching for a giggle. This was a favorite of mine and my cousins when we were kids. The plot is a bit thin at best. Chris Farley though is what keeps the movie going and really the only reason to actually see this movie. For the summary, Beverly Hills Ninja should be one of the greatest comedy movie. Everything was great and everyone should buy or rent this movie if you want to find some kind of fun! Don't forgot to bring the family and just enjoy the movie for what it is. Leave the expectations at the door.

"Beverly Hills Ninja" could have had good potential. It could have been "Crocodile Dundee" with a ninja. Unfortunately, thanks to the casting of Chris Farley, an awful script, and an untalented director, this film wallows in the laugh-free zone.

Farley plays a ninja from Japan who comes to Beverly Hills looking for a woman named Sally Jones, who has requested help from The Fat One. But unfortunately for Farley, tracking down a blonde-haired woman in Beverly Hills is going to be harder than he ever imagined. After he (finally) tracks her down with the help of Joey (equally unfunny comedian Chris Rock), he is led into a plot that seems put together by five-year-olds. The film obviously had no thought put into it at all.

Chris Farley, Mr. Over the Top, is as unfunny as ever. Unlike John Candy - who he has been compared to - Farley is simply not funny. Candy used subtle comedy. Let's compare the two...

For example, in "Beverly Hills Ninja," Chris Farley goes through a security device at an airport. It beeps, and he instantly flails his arms about, screaming and yelling, punching the device. He them calms down realizing it is a machine. Before going through the device, we can see Farley waiting for his cue to slap the thing. You can see it in his eyes. He's just waiting to go out of control, screaming. And when he does so, it isn't funny.

John Candy, on the other hand, is much funnier going through a security device. In "Who's Harry Crumb?" - a bad comedy, but nevertheless one to compare to - Candy goes through a scanner and it beeps. He looks around innocently, and does the same thing Farley does without punching and screaming wildly at the device.

There's something about the energy that Farley releases that makes me sick. It's worse than watching Jim Carrey and Robin Williams combined. He will suddenly go crazy, slapping and punching and running around. Then, the next moment, he's calm. And we can just see all the energy inside him - and it can't wait to release itself again. It's more obnoxious than anything.

The script is pitifully unfunny. I didn't laugh a single time at any of the gags. It's a cheap excuse for getting Chris Farley to display his unwanted energy.

Perhaps "Beverly Hills Ninja" seemed like a good idea before they filmed it, but it doesn't look so great on the celluloid, that's for sure.

1/5 stars

Beverly Hills Ninja is one of those movies you'll either love, or hate, depending on how one sees this film. The humour can be very childish and silly; on the other hand one might enjoy watching this brand of silliness and absurdity. It won't win brownie points for being original, but still Chris Farley is absolutely hilarious as the bumbling, 'white' ninja that his antics had me in laughing in stitches.

I am not going to say watch this movie, or buy it- Beverly Hills Ninja might have you in hysterics- or it may annoy and irritate you. It rather depends on how you view this film.

Farley plays an orphan, initially adopted by a group of ninjas as a baby- however when he grows up he becomes aloof, overweight, sluggish and what you called say, a buffoon. Anyway, an attractive woman mistakes Farley as a real ninja- which he is anything but a ninja- and he is hired to help the blonde. Haru witnesses a murder and ends up in the US, Beverly Hills-hence the title of the film.

The stupidity of this film stems from Farley's outrageous, and some would say laughable attempts at defeating the bad guys, despite his lack of karate skills at his disposal. If you are expecting a film big on narrative and great acting, don't bother; if you are expecting that this movie will really make you think, don't bother. If, however, you are up for a laugh and you want to watch a film as farcical, as stupid and as insanely funny, without taking this movie seriously, then Beverly Hills Ninja is definitely worth a viewing or two.

Otherwise, watch something else.

I however thought this was daft- very daft but also entertaining, highly amusing and a good laugh.

No, it's not sad because of Farley's untimely death, but

sad that this is what passes for movie comedy to a lot of

people. This totally uninspired trash coasts on the premise that a fat guy doing ninja moves and breaking things is hilarious. To me it's not. During one scene

when Farley poses as a table-side Japanese chef and tries

to imitate the moves of the other chefs around the restaurant I thought what comedic gold great movie comedians like W.C. Fields or Woody Allen (in his slapstick days) or even the Three Stooges would have made.

Relax! Laugh your butt off!!! It's Chris Farley!!!!! Reading through other comments posted here, I notice that people are using five or six big paragraphs to review this. There's really not enough about this movie to be spending so much time reviewing it. Don't see this movie hoping for a great story or accurate ninja fighting action, or compelling drama like some of the commentors here seem dissapointed with. Take the stick out yer bum and relax. Just enjoy Chris Farley at his best. Few movies have ever made me laugh harder. I'm not an aged 8-14 male.

If Chris Farley wasn't in this film it would be unwatchable. The film itself is stupid but the premise is decent. Plus the edition of Robin Shou and Soon Tek-Oh were good too. Give the film a chance if you need a good laugh

Archetypical "lucky loser" comedy movie this time connected to ninja.

Every joke is predictable, Chris Farley acting gets annoying after first 15 movies of the film. Plot is a standard Hollywood take on monomyth, though there are no character development at all. If you start to think that this movie is dumb - skip it, it is really dumb, there is nothing within it to surprise you. Punchlines are much the same, so it's really hard to keep yourself involved.

Skipable, uninspired work.