The Foreigner was directed by Martin Campbell and stars Jackie Chan and Pierce Brosnan. The Foreigner follows the story of Quan Ngoc Minh (Jackie Chan) a small business owner who loses his daughter in a tragic bombing and starts a cat and mouse game with Liam Henessy (Pierce Brosnan) a government official who he believes has insight to the murder of his daughter. From the beginning of the movie I didn't really know what to think. As time went on I was still confused as to what I thought about this movie. It was an okay film that had my interest for the most part, but something consistently felt missing throughout the movie. In my honest opinion, I was actually pretty disappointed by The Foreigner, not because of anyone's performances or the action. Simply because I felt mislead by the movie. I was sold on a Jackie Chan action movie and it wasn't necessarily what was delivered. We'll take a look at that a little later.
Let's take a look at what worked.
1. Action- This movie did have some fun action sequences. However, it was all extremely short lived. When the action was on screen I enjoyed it, it wasn't mind blowing by any means it was just entertaining. The action sequences were pretty fun and Jackie Chan can still act amazingly and sell a fight scene.
2. Jackie Chan- This is an actor that I respect quite a bit. He has done some amazing movies. He even made some children's movies fun. He really gave a good performance throughout this movie. Notably at the beginning after the death of his daughter. I bought into the emotions that Jackie was selling and felt for him as a character.
3. Acting- The acting in this film was terrific. I was actually really impressed with the performances given in this film. There were a lot of dialogue driven scenes that worked extremely well. Especially Brosnan. He gave a great performance. He was impressive all the way around.
Let's take a look at what I didn't enjoy.
1. Story Telling- To be honest, I was really disappointed in the way the story was told. It was sold as this huge fun action movie starring Jackie Chan getting revenge. But what we got was Pierce Brosnan having political conversations. It was a very different movie than what I expected to get. Virtually the entire run time was spent with Brosnan in his office have political conversations with the British and creating a conflict between Irish and British political relationships. It honestly felt like I was watching two different movies. This fun and exciting action thriller and a slow political drama. The best way I can describe the story of this movie is: It's a film about Irish and British Political Agendas, while Jackie Chan kills some guys in the woods.
2. Underused Jackie Chan- The entire selling point of this movie was Jackie Chan and his actions sequences. However we just didn't get that. When Jackie was in the movie he was even written poorly. He played second fiddle to Pierce Brosnan in his own movie. I would've loved to see Jackie be used much more. I would've like a true cat and mouse movie starring Jackie.
Overall, I had an okay time with The Foreigner. I thought the scenes with Jackie were fun and entertaining. He really knew how to sell his action scenes and his stunt performances. Even though Pierce Brosnan and Jackie Chan gave amazing performances, there was just not enough content in the movie to keep my attention or passion for the movie. Unfortunately, in my opinion Campbell wasted his golden ticket to an amazing movie to focus on what felt like a smaller political drama. I am going to give The Foreigner a C.
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