John Rain (Kippei Sina) is a former covert
ops agent who now lives in Japan. He is supposed to get a flash drive full of information that proves that Japanese
politicians are misusing the construction budget for the transportation department.
The Yakuza and CIA both see this info as valuable leverage. Both
will kill for it. The politician (Mr. Kawamura), who slipped the info out
of government computer mainframes, ends up dead after getting all the info. Rain
discovers Kawamura was going to get the information to a foreign reporter and Kawamura was murdered (in a way to make to it
look like a heart attack). He rescues one of Kawamura’s daughters
and makes it his mission to protect her while trying to find the flash drive. Meanwhile,
William Holtzer (Gary Oldman)- a top CIA agent in Japan- wants
the flash drive and doesn’t care who gets hurt to get it.
RAIN FALL is based on a novel that many
people have said the book is much better than the movie. Still RAIN FALL is a
good action thriller for something that ended up direct to DVD in the USA. Oldman chews the scenery in this film playing a bad guy almost as interesting
as the corrupt vice cop in THE PROFESSIONAL. People who aren’t used
to subtitles may want to steer clear from this movie since it is partly in Japanese.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Interviews with Kippei Shina (John Rain),
Gary Oldman (William Holtzer), Kyoko Hasegawa (Midori Kawamura), and Director Max Mannix givea few details on the making of
the film from how Western productions are different from Japanese ones to the acting approach of Gary Oldman (I think Gary
Oldman took the role so he could take a trip to Japan). Also on the disc
is the theatrical trailer which focuses more on Oldman’s character than the central character of John Rain, and trailers
for other Lionsgate releases.
FINAL ANALYSIS: RAIN FALL is a decent thriller worth at least a rental. If
you don’t like it, it may inspire you to track down the novel (and read it).
This DVD review is ©7-8-2010 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. Send all comments to lord_pragmagtic@hotmail.com
