One of my all time favorites.

Just what I expected

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

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.

I'm writing after watching the movie and reading the previous reviews. Watching the film I couldn't help seeing nearly every segment as yet another sad attempt at recapturing the thrills, twists, relationships, etc. carried out so wonderfully in "The Bourne Identity". I felt embarrassed for Gary Oldman playing this cardboard cut-out of the Chris Cooper's 'Conklin' character. I won't bother listing the plagiarized elements- they are too numerous, too obvious, and would take more time than this sad film deserves. I'll take a tip from you earlier reviewers and sample a Barry Eisler novel. I'm so deeply into Martin Cruz Smith's 'Arkady Renko' novels (again!) that I'm liable to be disappointed. I'll need a trip to the Gulag to get my hunger back.

I read Rain Fall a few years ago immediately followed by the other 5 books in this series, then I started loaning and recommending them to everyone I know who likes this genre. Fantastic book series! So, of course I was interested in the movie. Interested with realistic expectations, after all, people who love novels will never be satisfied with movie adaptations.First, what I think was good about this movie: * They started at the beginning of series. No-brainer, right? Actually rarely does anyone do this; the Dennis Lehane books, the Tom Clancy books, etc, they all jump around and change actors and plot to accommodate the fact that they've screwed up the progression of the story. So, good for these guys for at least setting up the possibility of doing this right, if they see it through.* Appears to be filmed in Japan, with Japanese actors speaking Japanese when appropriate and American/other actors speaking English when appropriate. Again, why wouldn't they do that? Because they might have sold more tickets to a wider US audience if they had not, but they did it right. I'm not convinced in the 2nd location, but that's okay, they did this right. THANK YOU!Neutral:The cinematography. It was cool and there were shots and lighting I enjoyed, but it was hard to watch at times, especially while reading subtitles. Might have gotten a little too cute with it in places.What I didn't like: * They screwed with the plot a bit too much. I know this almost has to happen with film adaptations, but it still stings because the plot of the book was so good. Taking the film plot on it's own merits, it was confusing and then a little too neat. I had trouble buying it and it didn't really hold up for me. I can't imagine that someone watching this without having read the book would have connected with it on plot beyond a superficial point.* The worst thing about loving a book and then seeing on film is what happens to the characters. I know, you've got hundreds of pages to give us insight into someone in a book and little bits of film to do the same thing in a movie. I get it, but it's still sad. Barry Eisler's characters are remarkably compelling and I didn't latch onto anyone in this film. They all become composites and some get changed completely to help the plot along. But, even with Rain, I didn't get any sense of his emotions or motivations after the opening. You just can't have a stoic hero.* I never really understood from the film who John Rain was, what he did, why he was involved with Midori. I know it made sense in the book, I felt it was really thin in the movie. Their relationship in the movie didn't work for me. Again, my memory is foggy, but I think they truncated a whole portion of how they met and how she initially came to know him that would have made it sensible.* Holtzer character annoyed the crap out of me. I don't remember him doing so in the book. I know he was not likable in the book, but I don't recall him being a micro-managing, hot-headed rogue, corrupt power monger in Mr. Eisler's story. Again, I think it helped the movie plot along to have a villain, but it was a better story before. It always amazes me how complex CIA operations in movies are portrayed as unplanned, emotional improvisations. Not that I know first hand, but I don't buy it. I know that Mr. Eisler has some insight, but this isn't how I recall him writing it, so I feel like the screenwriter and director, screwed it up.* Whereas the books sucked me in and kept me glued to the edge of my seat, the movie was hard to get through. You'd think it the other way around, right? Reading is boring, movies are exciting, right? Nope.So, I don't want to bash it. It's an ambitious project. And I don't want to be one of those "the book was better" guys. We all agree that those people suck. I'm glad I saw it, they did some things right, maybe they can improve this series as they go, start with giving us better insight into the surviving characters. We really need that. Go easy on the comic book lighting effects, especially if you're going to have us reading subtitle (which I approve of). And please don't make future characters into composite sketches of typical movie devices.

If you're a fan of the Barry Eisler Rain novels, do yourself a favor and don't watch this. This movie is everything the novels are not: boring, full of plot holes, seriously lame fight scenes and a story line that makes little or no sense.The movie feels patched together, like the director filmed a bunch of scenes and then tried to make them fit. They don't. The acting is fine, all of the cast give their best, but there just isn't much to work with.The fight scenes are all super-quick-cut editing stuff, so you can't see what is actually going on. That is probably because our martial artist protagonist isn't a martial artist. I've seen better fights on the elementary school playground.The plot is full of holes; not just little holes, but big, gaping holes that require you to do more than just suspend your disbelief. You would have to get a quick lobotomy before watching this if you don't want to be constantly aggravated by the plot holes. Characters will say something in one scene and then say the opposite in the next scene.The editing seems to have been done by a spastic drug addict with ADHD: the cuts between scenes are missing any semblance of art or craft. There are a few times where the director blurs part of the picture or tries some other type of artistic effect that just doesn't work. In short, the direction and editing are just plain awful.By the time you get to the cliché ending you will be bored and thinking about maybe clipping your toenails or something equally exciting. They managed to take an exciting novel about a hit man with issues and turn it into a boring movie. Buy one of the books instead of watching this.