''Tongan Ninja'' is a 2002

kung-fu Chinese martial arts, often called by the umbrella terms kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (), are multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. These fighting styles are often classified according to common ...

action comedy Action comedy is a genre that combines aspects of action and comedy. The genre is most prevalent in film with action comedy films, though several TV series fit this genre. Film The action comedy film is a film genre that combines aspects of actio ...

film directed by Jason Stutter and filmed in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. The film garnered notoriety at the time for co-starring and being co-written by

Jemaine Clement Jemaine Atea Mahana Clement (born 10 January 1974) is a New Zealand actor, comedian, musician and filmmaker. He has released several albums with Bret McKenzie as the musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords, and created a comedy series of the ...

, star of the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

comedy ''

Flight of the Conchords Flight of the Conchords is a New Zealand musical comedy duo formed in Wellington in 1998. The band consists of multi-instrumentalists Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement. Beginning as a popular live comedy act in the early 2000s, the duo's comed ...

''. The movie is a parody of English-dubbed martial arts films, with a plot heavily based on ''

Way of the Dragon ''The Way of the Dragon'' (, originally released in the United States as ''Return of the Dragon'') is a 1972 Hong Kong martial arts action comedy film written, co-produced and directed by Bruce Lee, who also stars in the lead role. This is Lee' ...

''. It also features songs written by Jemaine Clement and Flight of the Conchords co-star Bret McKenzie.

Plot

A young child is stranded in Tonga when his plane crashes and his father is eaten by piranhas. There, he trains in a dojo until he earns the name

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

Ninja A or was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enem ...

. The Tongan Ninja is dispatched to the island nation of New Zealand in order to help the brother of his master with his floundering Chinese restaurant. But the mysterious Mister Big stands in the eatery's way as he sends numerous villains such as Knife Man, Gun Man, and Action Fighter to keep the restaurant closed and the employees in fear. The Tongan Ninja must travel to Mr. Big's ninja headquarters at the So-Called-Syndicate to put a stop to his criminal empire once and for all.

Cast

*Sam Manu as Tongan Ninja (Sione Finau) *

as Action Fighter (Marvin) *Linda Tseng as Miss Lee *

Raybon Kan Raybon Kan (born 1966) is a New Zealand comedian and newspaper columnist. Early life and family Kan's family moved to Wellington, New Zealand soon after his birth in Masterton. He began his education at St Mark's Church School. He showed an ea ...

as Asian Sidekick *

David Fane David Rodney Fane (born 28 December 1966) is a New Zealand actor of Samoan descent. Early life and education Fane was educated at St. Pauls College in Grey Lynn. Career Fane got into acting quite late and trained at the New Zealand Drama ...

as Herman the Henchman *

Victor Rodger Victor John Rodger (born 1969) is a New Zealand journalist, actor and award-winning playwright
La Mama Theatre, N ...

as Mr. Big *Charley Murphy Samau as Tongan Ninja Child *Brett Ormsby as Chang the waiter *Marty Pine as Wong *

Tana Umaga Jonathan Ionatana Falefasa Umaga (; ; born 27 May 1973) is a New Zealand former rugby union footballer and former captain of the national team, the All Blacks. Since 2016 he has been coach of the Blues in the Super Rugby competition. He played ...

as Famous rugby player

DVD

The special features section includes a "making of" segment including director's commentary, and cameos by famous New Zealand directors

Peter Jackson Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand film director, screenwriter and producer. He is best known as the director, writer and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy ( ...

and

Andrew Adamson Andrew Ralph Adamson (born 1 December 1966) is a New Zealand film director, producer, and screenwriter based in Los Angeles, where he directed the Academy Award-winning animated films ''Shrek'' and ''Shrek 2''. He was director, executive prod ...

External links

* * 2002 films Kung fu films Ninja films 2000s action comedy films Martial arts comedy films New Zealand action comedy films Films set in New Zealand Films set in Tonga 2000s parody films Fictional Tongan people 2002 comedy films Japan in non-Japanese culture 2000s English-language films {{NewZealand-film-stub