The only possible flaw is that it takes a while to get going. Other than that, Anders Matthesen is clearly an artist who has no interest in traditional scripts or characterizations, and likes to forge his own path. We need more like him.
Plot summary
Aske is an average boy in seventh grade who just wants a peaceful life without being bothered by obstacles he faces daily. He has a crush on a girl named Jessica, who is one grade above him. His nerdy best friend is Oddyseus, and is being bullied by a boy who attends a special ed class named Glenn. Aske has a strained relationship with his stepfather Jørn and stepbrother Sune. Aske's life turns upside down one day when he gets a ninja doll as a gift for his 13th birthday by Uncle Stewart, who was on a vacation in Thailand earlier. He soon finds out that the ninja doll was possessed by a spirit belonging to a Japanese samurai named Taiko Nakamura who committed ritual suicide (seppuku) to save humanity from evil. The doll teams up with Aske to avenge the death of a Danish businessman named Phillip Eberfrø, who beat a poor boy to death in a sweatshop in Thailand. This puts Aske and his new friendship with this doll to the test, getting themselves ready for an adventure Aske never has been in before.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
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Quirky and strange and darn entertaining
Anders Matthesen has improved.
Anders Matthesen really did a good job with his new animated movie. Everything is well done, the animation and the story especially impressed me.
The right amount of his own kind of humour was added and is guaranteed to make laugh a lot, because many of the jokes are actually not just low brow jokes or mean-spirited stereo typing, but clever satire on different pop culture elements.
The ninja himself quickly became my favourite, because without spoiling anything I can tell you that he has many funny abilities and a great backstory. The other characters are mostly created as satire on different personalities similar to the ones from his earlier work, Terkel I Knibe, but still enjoyable.
Speaking of which, people who are familiar with that movie will get many cameos from different characters from that movie, most notably Onkel Stewart. Even though it feels pointless to have so many cameos and give Stewart so much screen time whe Matthesen clearly has stated that he won't make another Terkel movie, it is still filled with laughter and is enjoyable. What Stewart's relation to the main character? Maybe I didn't get it.
But one thing which was really delightful was how much better the animation had become. Terkel I Knibe was pretty ugly to look at, but Ternet Ninja had got some really promising animators to work on it and their hard work impressed me and even overwhelmed me at times.
The story presented to us in Ternet Ninja is basically about achieving your goals instead of just being a whiny loser. It was shown and acted pretty well and did also convey a heart-warming message and a social commentary. I guess it's still not for the youngest viewers, but it is more watchable and has much more heart to it than Terkel I Knibe.
A big surprise
It is a very good and interesting Danish animated film; the plot is decent and full of hilarious moments; I do not recommend it to children.