Not being familiar with the novel upon which this movie is based, nor with the author in general, it was with a clean slate and no expectations that I sat down to watch "Rain Fall".
I must say that I find it odd why the movie got such a low ranking on IMDb, because I found the movie to be rather interesting and captivating. It is a great political thriller/action movie a great amount of character development and a good flow to the movie. I especially like the way that the story was built up, you start out rooting for one side, then as the story progress, you switch sides and end up rooting for someone else entirely.
The story takes place in Tokyo, where top ranking officials are being murdered and a flash-drive with highly valuable information is being sought by the Tokyo police, CIA, the Yakuza and ex-special forces John Rain. But in this race to acquire the memory stick with the information, who can you trust?
"Rain Fall" was really nicely shot cinematography-wise. I like the angles used in the movie, and the usage of CCTV camera, that really added to the whole feel of the setting. Plus, the movie had some really great characters in it, characters with depths and personalities, where you got to have a deeper understanding for their motivations and their driving force.
And it also helped, of course, that they had some really good actors and actresses to play the various roles and make the characters come to life. Kippei Shiina (playing John Rain) really did a great job and was the driving engine in the movie, acting-wise. And hats off to director Max Mannix for managing to pull this movie off and come out with this great end result.
I was thoroughly entertained by this thriller, and was really caught up in the storyline. You are given bits and pieces of information continuously throughout the movie, but never enough to full grasp the wholeness of the plot. I liked that, because the story evolved and unfurled as you got deeper into the movie. And there was some nice plot twists throughout the movie as well.
If you like Asian cinema, then "Rain Fall" is well worth checking out, as it is great suspense and entertainment from beginning up to the very end. And the ending of the movie was actually quite good, managing to get the movie to come full circle.
