Review of The Foreigner (2017) by Andre W — 18 Oct 2017

His film takes place in London and Belfast after a bombing goes off and a group of terrorists, the "Authentic IRA"claim responsibility. This bombing kills over a dozen civilians including the daughter of Quan Ngoc Minh (Chan), the only family he had left. He thus makes it his mission to bring those responsible to justice. His investigation leads him to Liam Hennessy (Brosnan) an ex-IRA turned politician who claims he has no involvement. Quan believes that he is lying and begins threatening him through bombings until Hennessy gives up the names of whom is responsible for the bombing. While this is going on, Hennessy is trying to work his way to securing his political status and it becomes more of a political thriller.

Campbell, known for directing GoldenEye and Casino Royale, is able to make the action just as great. Each action scene is intense and each punch hurts as much as the next. He was also able to take this story and apply to today's fear of terrorism in a way that feels authentic.

The Characters:

Both starring actors had to play roles that were essentially opposite to what they are known. Brosnan had to play a corrupt politician instead of his suave Bond. He did decently at this and still had this charisma that while you know he's up to something, you see the chemistry he has with Chan. Chan is the star however taking on this John Rambo/Brian Mills instead of his typical comedic roles. Each action scene with him was fantastic and knowing that he always performs his own stunts just adds to his character's awesomeness. He is able to take down each character in ways that you'd never think for a Jackie Chan movie. Each moment that he was on screen had me wanting for the next one to come sooner than it was planned just so he could kick more butt on screen. The hand to hand combat is great especially for a man aged 63. He also was able to capture emotions very well and you really feel for his character from beginning to end.

The Flaws:

Because this film is both a revenge film and a political thriller, it is definitely very different from what was advertised. Going into the film, it seemed that it would be more of the former. While this difference is not the flaw, the film does struggle to do both and at times made the film feel a tad boring at times. This is mostly during its attempt to be a political thriller as a lot of story is explained through dialogue from characters that aren't introduced well. This makes the viewer to not care too much about the politics of the film and the antagonist of the overall IRA seemed lackluster because of it. The viewer knows they are bad because of the bombings that they have done and will do but that's it. Their motivation was almost non-existent and when they reach their fate, the audience does not care that much.

Overall:

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This film has two parts, an action portion and a political thriller portion. It succeeds in the former with Chan's fighting ability and Campbell's direction. However, Chan is not in the film as much you'd want and the parts when he is not falls into the latter part. This political thriller is only average and it becomes cliche by the end of the film. While acted well by Brosnan, he cannot save the political thriller aspect of the film. Nevertheless, Chan's performance can make this good film worth watching once.