Nightmaster aka Watch the Shadows Dance - Review
Aussie Martial Arts Movie with a Young Nicole Kidman
These days Nicole Kidman is known for starring in middlebrow dramas like The Hours, in which she played Virginia Woolf who famously drowned herself in a pond, a fate that is far preferable than having to sit through The Hours. Hollywood has turned Kidman into a movie Princess, with all the piety it expects from its leading ladies.
Kidman’s beginnings in the Australian film industry may not have provided her with any Oscars, but at least they let her have some fun. She got to tear around Sydney on a BMX in BMX Bandits (Brian Trenchard-Smith 1983) , hit Billy Zane with a spear gun (in Philip Noyce’s Dead Calm, not in real life) and wear a ninja costume in the enjoyably silly Nightmaster (Mark Joffe 1988).
Nicole Kidman, Teenage Ninja
Tom Jennings, whom some may remember as the leader of the warrior children in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (George Miller/ George Ogilvie 1985), gets his first and last leading role as young martial arts student Robbie, the most gifted protégé of a Vietnam Veteran turned PE teacher. Steve Beck (Vince Martin) encourages his students to maximise their potential and improve themselves through physical discipline. The kids do this by dressing up in ninja costumes and organising elaborate tournaments in abandoned buildings. Robbie is the current champion, although his pretty would-be girlfriend Amy (Kidman) thinks she can take him.
Crazy Nam Veterans Do Not Make Effective Schoolteachers
Peaceable English teacher Miss Spane (Joanne Samuel, Mrs Rockatansky in Mad Max) wonders why some of her best students keep falling asleep in class. Miss Spane tries to persuade Robbie that you cannot simply punch your way through life, but Steve remains the stronger influence. That is until Robbie begins to notice certain things about Steve, such as his unforgiving treatment of weaker students, his meetings with the school drug dealer, or the fact that he is a total asshole.
Paul Kelly Provides the Soundtrack for Nightmaster
Nightmaster provided the acclaimed singer-songwriter Paul Kelly with the opportunity to score his first movie. Kelly appears singing in a club with his band The Coloured Girls on a couple of occasions. The score is not his best work, with the exception of the song ‘Stories of Me’ but Kelly would go on to provide the evocative soundtrack for Ray Lawrence’s powerful movie Jindabyne (2006).
Nightmaster Let Down by Poor Fight Choreography
Although watchable, Nightmaster lacks the inventiveness needed for a B-movie genre flick to rise above the material. It does not help that the fight sequences are lame. Jennings looks like he could handle himself, but it appears he only had a handful of martial arts lessons before filming began. As for Kidman we never really see her pull any moves, not a single roundhouse kick, which is why she should forget the Oscar-bait roles and star in a buddy movie with Jackie Chan. She owes us that much.
- Nightmaster aka Watch the Shadows Dance
- Starring Nicole Kidman
- Written by Michael McGennan
- Directed by Mark Joffe
- Running Time 87 minutes
Nightmaster
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