‘Ninja Assassin’ demo reel featuring Rain

A new behind-the-scenes look at the fight training for the Wachowskis’ NINJA ASSASSIN has turned up on Youtube and features impressive moves from the film’s star, Korean pop idol Rain.

It has been previously noted that Rain was training intensively for this film, both to condition his body in order to look and move appropriately but also to perform many of his own fighting moves. It appears that Rain has been very hard at work and it could all pay off with a breakout action performance but not without the help of the stunt team that trained and worked with him.

The fight coordinators are Chad Stahelski and Jon Valera, who are joined by other members of the 87 Eleven stunt team, previously responsible for cutting-edge action appearing in many of Hollywood’s top movies from THE MATRIX to 300 and beyond They have additional work soon to be seen in X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE, a live-action KING OF FIGHTERS movie and the highly anticipated WATCHMEN film.

If the moves shown in this demo reel survive the directing, editing and effects process and end up in the finished film without being weighed down by too many Hollywood gimmicks, this movie actually stands a chance of kicking some ass.

With the rigorous training that Rain has gone through and its apparent results, he might have a career in action films if this movie is a commercial success. If so, Rain should stick around. The market for martial arts and action movies in Korea is small and Hollywood desperately needs some fresh action film stars.

One thing that this demo reel proves is that the experienced stunt professionals behind this movie are a major asset, as is Rain who is gradually earning more respect from me than I usually spare for pop idols who try to be martial arts stars but never put in the effort to compete with the likes of dedicated action talents like Vincent Zhao and Wu Jing. Let’s hope the effort isn’t wasted.

By Mark Pollard • December 16, 2008

Source: http://www.kungfucinema.com/?p=4226
Credit: jinijung@soompi.com