Underground, independent cinema… there's just nothing else like it.  I'm not talking about that fucking straight to video, ex-porn star, softcore detective movie shit.  I'm talking about true, made it with my video camera in my backyard with some buddies, filmmaking!  When it comes down to it, you either get complete crap (and boy have I seen my share of it) or undiscovered brilliance.  Unfortunately, there are more turds out there than unpolished diamonds, but when you do find one, whoa boy is it fun to turn all your friends on to it.

Bill Sebastian is not a name I would expect you'd recognize, but if there's a God in heaven, you someday will know him well.  He's the man who looked around and realized that no one had really done a thorough spoof on ninja movies recently.  So he did what any red-blooded American male with a camera and ten grand in the bank would do.  He made one himself called Irish American Ninja: The Story of George McGoogle… and it's got “the funny” in spades.

Sebastian plays George McGoogle, an Irish-American kid who from age seven knew deep in his heart that he wanted to be a ninja.  After countless years reading martial arts magazines, George finally stows away on a flight to Japan and enters the White Ninja Dojo.  Before long, George is able to disappear and reappear in mid punch, run fast enough to leave a dust cloud behind him, and dispatch enemies without even turning around to see them coming.  He is an Irish American death machine, but he has a past.  Turns out he's not the only ninja in the family and the brother he thought was dead is working for the other side. 

There are double crosses, family secrets exposed, bloodlines to be avenged and oatmeal cookies to eat.  All of it is brought to light in the form of a pseudo-documentary catching up with McGoogle as he sits disgraced in an abandoned house, chain-smoking with a case of Keystone Light.

As these things go, Irish American Ninja is shot very well.  The fight scenes are fun and over the top.  Particularly good is the sequence when the black and white ninjas fight in the mouth of the storm drain.  The settings are pretty believable considering there's no chance this had a budget big enough to actually film in Japan. 

Amazingly, the acting, while spotty in places, is mostly well done.  The worst of it is contained to “interview” footage with former teachers, friends and George's mother. These are all people whose delivery is a bit wooden, but the scenes between ninja rivals and the ninja masters tick off like big budget films.  Overall, the dialogue is well written and funny as hell.  Sebastian in particular delivers his lines with almost perfect comic timing.

Witness his exchange with the master of the Black Ninja Dojo.  George confronts him looking for his brother and the back and forth between the two (one speaking in cryptic ninja master sentences and the other reacting with typical no-bullshit American responses) is hilarious.

Another great bit is the part where George fantasizes about reuniting with his long lost brother.  The two exchange baseball cards, ride bikes (George sits on the handlebars), hold hands while skipping through fields of flowers and even play on the swings.  Of course they do all of this in full ninja attire.

This shit is downright hilarious!

Sebastian says in the Behind the Scenes segment that he loves the Bruce Campbells of the filmmaking world better than the Bruce Willises and what he's done here should be sought out by Campbell fans everywhere.  I highly recommend this movie!

Presentation
This was shot on video, and as you'll see, since it was shot in order, the early stuff (interview footage) looks really good. It's well lit and has good sound.  As the movie progresses, the lighting isn't so good and the camerawork gets a little less professional looking.  When you watch the Behind the Scenes section, you'll see that this is because Sebastian's crew walked out on him after two weekends of shooting.  The rest was done with a myriad of crewmembers and then edited together.  Considering that, by his estimation, Sebastian used 75 people and “probably as many locations” over the course of the shoot, this looks amazing. 

Also, this movie is worth the money simply for having the song “Alternateen” by Wally Pleasant.  I almost wet myself listening to the lyrics to this one.

Extras
Here's where this release truly pays off.  The thing that sets this apart from other independent films is the fact that the filmmaker and his associates are really fucking hilarious just on their own.  That means that not only is the movie fun to watch, but the extras are worth repeated viewing also.

The Deleted Scenes are just as laugh out loud funny as the rest of the movie.  Other than for length considerations, I can't figure out why some of these were left out.  Especially the outtake of the Scottish Soccer Hooligan who would have made an interesting counterpart for the Irish Soccer Hooligan featured in the main film.

Behind the Scenes is a look at the myth of George McGoogle but also a documentary about the making of the film.  It's enlightening but also really, really funny.  I'm telling you now, if DIMP gets a shot at interviewing this guy I want to be the one to do it and it needs to be done in a bar, over the course of a couple of hours. 

The Commentary Track is also hilarious and is one of a very few that I can guarantee you I'll listen to again.  Sebastian and actor Frank Mastrangelo really have fun dissecting the film and sharing stories.  This is almost as funny as the main feature alone.

Finally, you get trailers for other Filmout releases.

What's the bottom line?
Irish American Ninja: The Life of George McGoogle is well worth seeking out, especially if you are a fan of martial arts movies.  I would love to see this script cleaned up a little, given a bigger budget and reshot.  Still, it's great as it is and you should keep an eye out for Bill Sebastian.  His is a name worth remembering.