BootDigest
Such a frustrating disappointment
SpuffyWeb
Sadly Over-hyped
Lucybespro
It is a performances centric movie
Brennan Camacho
Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.
NateWatchesCoolMovies
Rain Fall, like the meteorological event of its namesake, came and went with little fanfare when it was released. Based on one novel in a series by Barry Eisler, it follows John Rain (Kippei Shina), a Japanese assassin for hire who becomes deeply embroiled in a hunt for a mysterious flash drive, the contents of which could have nasty consequences if released. Between the Yakuza, Japanese government and the CIA, Rain has his plate full, especially when he has to take a young girl under his wing who is in danger from all factions involved. Gary Oldman makes twitchy work playing William Holtzer, the unsavoury and corrupt Token CIA station chief. He barks orders like he's in a Bourne film, bends rules and is a morally blank, ruthless A-hole. Oldman plays him without his usual villainous and eccentric flair, opting for a stressed out, nervy turn which suits the gloomy tone of the film. It is a drab yet exciting affair, the intrigue dimmed down to dull greys and muted gunfights that ebb and flow with a minimal pulse. Shina is awesome as Rain, and seems born to play the spy thriller protagonist. Under the radar is how this one plays it, an atmospheric cloak and dagger outing well worth a watch.
Wm_Gardner
Watched this online last night
...relative to much of what I have watched online with Netflix, this was a pretty good movie, all in all. The plot was fairly predictable, almost formulaic. The producers made the right call in casting; Oldman's role is what convinced me to try it...... The dialogue is mostly in Japanese and a good 90% of the film is set in Japan. This means to be prepared for lots of subtitles. I usually do not mind and a fair percentage of my "all-time, top 20 favourites" are foreign. Just that night, I was hoping for a break from reading and as I mentioned earlier, this plot would not have required my undivided attention on the screen. Cast: -Kippei Shiina,: does a nice job. Felt a bit like this was supposed to be something of a "vehicle" film for him. He did not become one of my new "must watch" actors but I would be interested in seeing more of his work sometime. He played the role of a reluctant "unbeatable action hero". Got the impression that he is capable of more...... -Oldman was not really at his true best, at times it almost felt like an "impression of how Gary Oldman may act"; Pacino does that sometimes in his less stellar performances. Little, oddly timed, fits of mania, the way he conveys the big "master plan" towards the end....... At times it just felt like a caricature of Oldman's best roles. -Kyoko Hasegawa.: Not one who watches many Japanese films, she was a nice surprise! I felt she was the actress who really "made the show". Does a very nice job of playing "the beautiful woman who was in danger"/ "love interest". Not too much screaming, not too much whining, and she did not try to "Rambo" up either. She was interesting, smart, understated, emotionally strong, very beautiful, and showed some real acting talent. She was far more than just a pretty face; I would be interested in seeing her work again. -Akira Emoto: did a very nice job but the role was sure not one to stretch his acting skills. A minor part, but he usually tends to stand out due to his talent and skill.So, in summary, if you are looking for an action movie on Netflix (or a rental, do not mind subtitles, like Japanese movies (with some Western influence), and one that has a reasonably happy ending with good casting...... go for it. You could certainly do much worse than "Rain Fall".
garyvanhorn
This movie is a lesson on how to not make a movie. I had to give up 35 min into the movie because the camera-work was so bad I couldn't stand it anymore. It wasn't hand-held camera bad, it was worse. At least with the shaky hand-held camera you know why the screen keeps moving. In this film the camera seems to have ADD in a bad way, every second or two there is a cut, sometimes to another character, sometimes to an object being handles, sometimes to completely random points in the room. It's a visual frenzy that is very jarring to watch. Additionally every actor in not fully in frame, from mid-forehead up is completely cut off in virtually every shot, and I can't explain why and it's really annoying. The camera also tends to drift a great deal, as if someone left the cart in neutral and it started rolling away but they kept on filming anyway. The plot isn't quite as bad but the story is so hard to follow because of the shoddy camera-work that it might as well be. This movie is dreadful, avoid it unless you are interested in seeing a train wreck on screen.
lucius_420
Gary Oldman is in this movie and it was released a year ago and has only 78 ratings and no review yet? Well I just watched it, had a pretty enjoyable experience, and felt it needed at least one review here. The script was written pretty well except for they writer must have gotten high and made an anticlimactic ending which turned what could have been an 8 star movie into a 6 star movie for me. I felt left wanting for some more action, but there were some enjoyable action sequences throughout which had nice choreography and the story kept me interested between action scenes to wonder what would happen next.It seemed like another one of those high-tech spy-type movies at first, but then it changed pace and seemed to try to become a little less over the top than some of those others and tried to give itself more of a gritty dirty cop story, and finally descended into the darkness of a melodramatic doubly anticlimactic final 2 scenes. There were one or two loose plot threads, but not as many rampant loose ends as quite a few other pictures made in this country. Overall I enjoyed it for the most part. Great story and action that fizzled a bit at the end. I did think that the actors were all great. Direction had lots to do with it.Half the movie they are speaking the English language, so don't be prejudiced against the other half just because it does have a few subtitles! The music was good at times, went with the mood nicely. I recommend that you watch it and enjoy a good time. Maybe worth another watch.