.......To the late eighties and early nineties when direct to video action movies were big Business, and made household names of Van Damme, Seagal, Blanks, Rothrock and many more.

Casey Bowmans life is shattered by a savage act of violence, when his wife is murdered. Vowing revenge, he tracks the killer to Rangoon with the help of a wise sensei.

His only clues: a series of victims whose necks bear the distinctive mark of strangulation by barbed wire. Casey must sharpen his battle skills to the next level, as he must finally become an invisible warrior worthy of the name Ninja.

But just when his prey is cornered, an unexpected twist shows Casey that his battle is only beginning: he truly can trust no one.....

The first movie in my opinion was a load of old rubbish, the action was mundane, and it looked very bad. This is something else though, and Adkins has really stepped up a few gears since that movie. Assassination games, USol day of reckoning, Expendables 2 have really shown his skill, and this movie escalates that to another level.

The movie is just Death Wish meets Commando by way of First Blood part 2, and the action is relentless from beginning to end.

If you loved renting out American Kickboxer, or any film that ended with Kickboxer, claws, or Ninja in the title, then this will be for you.

This could be the turning point for direct to DVD action movies.

Casey Bowman (Adkins) is a master Martial Artist who runs a dojo with his wife Namiko (Hijii). Casey is truly livin' the dream: a great wife, a great life, and a baby on the way. But his dreams of the future are shattered when Namiko (and her unborn baby) are murdered. Vowing revenge, Casey will stop at nothing to find the perpetrators. This leads him to the dojo of fellow Martial Arts practitioner Nakabara (Kosugi). The two men then come to the conclusion that the super-evil Goro (Sugata) is the mastermind behind all the mayhem. Operating out of the Golden Triangle, Goro commands an army of goons and is said to be untouchable. Naturally, that doesn't stop Casey from embarking on his ultimate revenge mission. Will he avenge the deaths of his wife and child? Find out today! Ninja 2 (Or Ninja: Shadow of a Tear, its more poetic title) is awesome. There are many elements that make it so enjoyable and entertaining - there is minimal CGI, the fight choreography (by Tim Man) is excellent, you can actually see all the fights, Scott Adkins is a great hero you can truly get behind and is a rock-solid Martial Artist, and, perhaps most importantly, the plot is old-school action at its finest. The movie is truly a throwback to the 80's Ninja Boom, but unselfconsciously so. It would have ruined things if the great Isaac Florentine made this "ironic" or "post-modern", but that's what makes him great: it probably never entered his mind to do so. It's all about exciting, well-executed fights and grand revenge.

Of course, there is the time-honored barfight, the Prerequisite Torture of the hero, and the wacky taxi driver. Things we never tire of seeing if they're done right. Thankfully, Florentine and Adkins understand action through and through, and they deliver a winner with all of what you want and none of what you don't. The evil baddie is named Goro, recalling the Mortal Kombat character, and Kane Kosugi is onboard as well. And if all else fails, Adkins can just flash his million-dollar smile. But even if he didn't, his badass Martial Artistry would carry the day.

Florentine's whooshing camera is still on display, and Scott Adkins speaks Japanese. And it's nice to see that, in 2013, goons still haven't learned. When they attack the hero, and he dispatches them in violent style, they still keep coming at him. Or their fellow goons think they can beat him. Apparently, word hasn't yet gotten around the goon community that you shouldn't mess with Casey Bowman. A marked improvement over the first film, Ninja 2 delivers the action goods with style and aplomb. At the rate the series is going, we would certainly welcome a Ninja 3.

Classic revenge story with bosses and personal motivations. What matters is that the martial arts shines and it does here. All the fights are amazing, fast, and with lots of power put into it. Spectacular martial arts and these guys are in top shape. Visually the camera-work is great, with proper focus on the acrobatics, and some slow motion tastefully added a to showcase the artists but never breaking the flow of fighting - they did a real good job with following the action. Honestly I wasn't expecting such great work going into this movie session on some straight to TV material. I mean rooftop chases, bar scenes, street/taxi, dojo, jungle rambo stuff, fighting, language, acting. Plus Adkins is blessed by nature so he's a great martial artists who actually looks pretty good on screen. Anyways I came out amazed and I've many many martial flicks and I really like this one. It's a sure bet in my opinion.

Hopefully Adkins and all can do more of exactly that - top notch ninja flick the likes of which we haven't seen since the 80's. Oh, and I didn't really like the 2009 movie, but this one is spot on.