Review – The Foreigner
The Foreigner has been marketed as Jackie Chan’s Taken (2008), where an older, accomplished actor is cast in an action-focused film with a lot of hand-to-hand combat. They’ve tried to replicate this kind of film with a number of actors like Kevin Costner (Three Days to Kill), John Travolta (From Paris with Love), Sean Penn (The Gunman), and Pierce Brosnan (November Man). It also seems that this is the only kind of movie Liam Neeson does now (Non-Stop, Unknown, Run All Night, Taken 2 & 3). Aside from Taken, these movies aren’t particularly successful critically or financially, mostly because the movies are just straight up stupid, with empty plots and boring action.
The Foreigner is different though. For starters, it’s awesome. It highlights Jackie Chan’s mastery of the martial arts and allows him to showcase his acting talent by giving him a character with layers. But this is also a tightly wound political thriller about how a politician’s corruption and past life come to back to bite him at his own game.
When his daughter is killed in an explosion done by a group of I.R.A. terrorists, Quan (Jackie Chan), a humble business man with a dark past, seeks out information of the people responsible. This takes him all the way to Irish politician Liam Hennessy (Pierce Brosnan), a former I.R.A member himself who is up to some sketchy activities. Quan does everything and anything he can to get information out of Hennessy, as he knows about his activities behind closed doors and his allegiance to the I.R.A.
Chan has never been known for his acting. We have loved seeing him kick some serious ass for decades, but never was he given an opportunity to show us his true acting ability. I’ve never seen Chan like this before. Sure, he does a lot of ass kicking and killing, but it’s when he isn’t fighting that’s the most captivating. This is a man who has dealt with a lot in his life and loses someone who he loves more than life itself. You can see it in Chan’s eyes that this is a broken man of desperation who sees vengeance as his only solace for his dead daughter. It’s exceptional work from Chan.
Brosnan also does some really good work as Hennessy. The former 007 is as smooth as it comes and conveys that in the first part of the film. He plays a calm and calculated politician who seems to have everything going for him and has his troubled past behind him. But when his world comes crashing down he becomes unhinged and his true roots come out. Brosnan plays a great villain and holds an Irish accent very well for a Brit. This movie isn’t just about Chan, it plays as a double-act for both Chan and Brosnan and they both deliver.
The movie doesn’t skip on the action, which is excellent and highlights just how great Chan is at the art. What’s best about Chan’s fighting scenes is that they aren’t as clean as his past films. In film’s like Rush Hour (1998), Chan leaves most fight scenes unscathed and barely with a cut. But here, he gets his ass kicked, really showing us a mortality to Chan not seen before. The editing and pace of the movie is excellent, always moving the story forward and keeping a kinetic tone that has your heart racing.
The Foreigner is a really cool, really fun movie that highlights two great veteran actors. Jackie Chan and Pierce Brosnan are excellent, the action is thrilling, and the movie’s politically charged plot makes this more than just your average revenge flick.
Did you see The Foreigner? What did you think? Comment below or hit me up on Twitter and Instagram, @kevflix, or on Facebook by searching Kevflix.