Think about it, Donnie Yen is actually the best guy available to play John Rain. He is about the same age as Rain was in the first novel, he is about the right size, and he also has some skill in judo. Also, Donnie is a rather good actor if the script is well written, so if a screenplay more faithful to the novels is written, Donnie is the only deserving guy to play this great character!
shareDefinitely agree! Rain is one of those characters that I can never quite picture properly. I have a muddled image in my head, he's just kind of an awesome, faceless guy lol. But now that you mention Donnie Yen, I can definitely see his Ip Man-ness coming into play and being great for the part!
I think the real problem with converting this series to film is that anyone that's read it knows how awesome a character Rain is, because we know how he thinks. But as it's explained, no matter what he's thinking, he always holds an impassive, unemotional face. I think Kippei Shiina did well on that front, but it just...didn't work to bring the character of the books to film.
I really hope they continue/remake this series, and do it right. It's a dream of mine to direct at least one of them in the future!
I agree that Donnie is one of the most suitable actors for the role, but you know some Japanese are gonna have a problem with a Chinese playing the role and would prefer a Japanese actor.
I'm guessing Takeshi Kaneshiro would've been a good choice, plus his father is Japanese.