Movie Review : Lawton’s ‘The Hunted’ Captures Thrills

In J. F. Lawton’s handsome, ambitious “The Hunted,” New York businessman Christopher Lambert checks into a luxury hotel in Nagoya, Japan, encounters at the hotel bar beautiful, enigmatic Joan Chen. He spends the night with her, only to then witness her assassination by ninja John Lone.

Nearly murdered himself, Lambert gains the protection of martial artist Yoshio Harada and his wife/partner Yoko Shimada, only to learn that he’s become a pawn in Harada’s obsession with avenging his family’s decimation centuries earlier by Lone’s ninja clan.

In his directorial debut, Lawton, screenwriter of “Pretty Woman” and “Under Siege,” sets up his story smartly, struggles a bit as he shifts gears to concentrate more on Harada’s implacability than on finding out why Chen was killed, but regains his footing for a strong, compelling finish in which the whole improbable notion of a samurai saga set down in modern-day Japan becomes credible.

The film gets a big charge from Motofumi Yamaguchi’s driving drum score, performed by Kodo. Lawton clearly knows Japanese samurai movies, and “The Hunted,” in which Lambert, Chen and Lone make solid impressions, explores thoroughly the ironies, paradoxes and absurdities within the samurai code of honor.

* MPAA rating: R, for strong bloody ninja violence and some sexuality. Times guidelines: Although typical for its genre, the film is quite bloody and brutal; its scene of lovemaking highly sensual but discreet.

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‘The Hunted’

Christopher Lambert: Paul Racine

John Lone: Kinjo

Joan Chen: Kirina

Yoshio Harada: Takeda

Yoko Shimada: Mieko

A Universal Pictures and Bregman/Baer Productions presentation of a Davis Entertainment Co. production. Writer-director J.F. Lawton. Producers John Davis, Gary W. Goldstein. Executive producer William Fay. Cinematographer Jack Conroy. Editors Robert A. Ferretti. Costumes Rita Riggs. Music Motofumi Yamaguchi. Production designer Phil Dagort. Art director Sheila Haley. Set decorator Lin MacDonald. Running time: 1 hour, 50 minutes.

* In general release throughout Southern California.