3 Ninjas Kick Back was the second movie in the franchise to hit cinemas - despite technically being the third entry. The original Big Trouble In Little China). Their father is also an FBI agent chasing a dangerous criminal called Snyder - who also happens to have some ninja henchmen. Snyder eventually tries to kidnap the boys, which puts their fighting skills to the test.
3 Ninjas was inspired by the success of 1990's The Meg with Jason Statham.
The original 3 Ninjas was made on a low-budget, meaning a sequel was almost a given. A follow-up arrived in the form of 3 Ninjas Kick Back in 1994, where Colt, Tum-Tum, and Rocky travel to Japan with their grandfather. Despite an increase in budget and scale, the movie was a box-office dud and received mostly bad reviews. Fans of the original movie may have noticed that only Max Elliott Slade (Parenthood) returned as Colt, while Tum-Tum and Rocky were recast. This is especially strange since the next entry - 3 Ninjas Knuckle Up - featured all three of the original actors returning. That's because 3 Ninjas Knuckle Up was actually shot in 1992, shortly after the release of the first movie.
Distribution issues with 3 Ninjas Knuckle Up meant it was shelved and ultimately released in 1995, a full three years after it was shot. So, despite being the second movie released, 3 Ninjas Kick Back is really the third entry in the series overall. It was also the only entry to receive a video game adaptation, which was released for the Sega Mega Drive, SNES, and even the Sega 3D. 3 Ninjas Knuckle Up didn't fare much better at the box-office upon release either and quickly slipped out of cinemas.
The series came to an end with 1998's 3 Ninjas: High Noon At Mega Mountain, which brought some star power in the form of Hulk Hogan (The A-Team), but the fourth entry was the lowest-grossing of the series. The release of 3 Ninjas Kick Back before the actual second movie is an odd blip in the franchise's history - especially for those viewing the series back to back - but considering none of the sequels were very good, that's probably the only noteworthy thing about them.
