You know, as much as I love the first two Matrix films I've been paying very little attention to the upcoming Ninja Assassin. Which is odd. It's not like the Wachowski's have produced a series of dogs, James McTiegue is a solid director, I'm actually a fan of Korean pop megastar Rain on screen and - his foolish comments about just how quickly he wrote the script notwithstanding - I'm a big fan of writer J. Michael Straczynski. But somehow the project - in which Rain stars as a young ninja who turns on his own clan - just didn't catch my attention until that very bloody photo to the left hit the web.
And now there's something new to pique the interest. With the film currently shooting in Germany, German TV has recently run a reel of behind the scenes footage showing the crew hard at work, including shots of Rain doing some fight and stunt work. And I gotta say the guy looks pretty good with a sword in his hand. Check it out below the break!
Rain was one of the high points of 'I'm a Cyborg' (Tartan R.I.P.).
You could tell from some of the one sheets that he's had some dance instruction. This probably helps stunt-wise (ala Zhang Ziyi).
He get's a lot of the usual "pop stars can't act" grief, but he's in good company (Andy Lau and Eugene Hutz from Gogol Bordello to name two).
Once I found out they would have Sho Kosugi in it... I was sold.
Everyone should Google the Colbert/Rain dance off if they haven't seen it already.
Rain was the second-best thing about Speed Racer. The first, of course, was Benno Furmann.
If you can't understand german, you don't miss any new information. The Synopsis for Ninja Assassin at hxxp://www.imdb.com/title/tt1186367/synopsis is still more detailed.
fun facts:- the first fight scene in this clip plays at the Siegesäule in Berlin. Its the monument where Obama made his speech infront of 200 thousand Germans last week.
- in this clip they say, it is a Wachowski movie, but don't mention James McTeigue :)
they also say it's gonna be released January 2009.
Ninjas in the street slicing at cars?
The Timberlake comparison is not particularly insulting, as he's shaped up to be more interesting on screen than he ever was as a singer. He was the only thing remotely funny about the trailer for LOVE GURU, and I hear he's the best thing about SOUTHLAND TALES, which I haven't seen to be fair. The comparison is entirely apt - pop superstar who surprises people with his on-screen competence.
I guess. Then again, it's not like they'd have to do much to beat their musical output, particularly Rain.
i hope Rain doesn't have lines like: "I AM NINJA ... WOOOOOO!!!"
Timberlake's really good in Southland, yeah. Just about everybody's really good in Southland, actually ... all sorts of clever casting in there. The problems with the film are all about it being overly ambitious, not about the performances. I still really like it, though.
I really liked V for Vendetta, and I liked Rain in Im a Cyborg (which I otherwise found really dissapointing), so Im game for this movie, bring it on
Rain and the Wachoswkis ? No thanks.
Nothing really interests me about this.