The Foreigner is a spy thriller starring Jackie Chan and Pierce Brosnan. Chan plays a Chinese restaurant owner named Juan, living in London. Quan's daughter is killed in a bombing claimed by a new violent sect of the IRA, who are trying to derail the peace process. Brosnan plays Liam Hennessy, an Irish politician and reformed IRA-Sinn Fein member who is neck deep in the peace process, and represents the interest of many of the old IRA factions. Quan decides that Hennesy is the best source to find out who killed his daughter, so he can take revenge, so he starts to stalk Hennesy, bringing the war to his doorstep as he tries to force the politician to give up his old IRA compatriots. As he seeks revenge, he is racing against Hennesy and the British government who are all trying to figure out who's committing the bombings, and prevent the next major attack. Is Henessy truly out of his old life in the IRA? Is the terrorist cell being run by a new faction or the same old IRA players? Will Quan find what he needs to take his vengeance, and is he what he seems, or something more dangerous?
The Foreigner is a pretty good action/spy movie. It does a really good job of delivering on intrigue and action, and of taking advantage of Chan's skills without devolving into just an acrobatic martial arts circus. Chan sometimes feels like a caricature in Western movies, but he's pretty good in this one as a grieving father who is just trying to take some revenge on the people who took away the last good thing he had from his previous life. There is sufficient complexity in who's really behind the bombings to keep the plot rolling, and Brosnan is convincing as an aging IRA-connected politician who is living on the edge between his old life and the new peace and success he was hoping to achieve. The supporting cast is pretty decent, and filled with potential villains.
There's a bit of foul language and a little suggestive material, but no nudity. There's a good bit of action related violence, and some sequences with injuries from bombings that are somewhat graphic, but not even as much as you might have seen in the news. Not really a kids movie.
Overall, I enjoyed this movie, and was happy to see a film where Chan plays his age appropriately but still kicks ass. They did a good job of putting some Chan into a decent plot, rather than just building a meager plot around some Chan martial arts set pieces.
Slowguy
(insert pithy phrase here...)
The Foreigner is a pretty good action/spy movie. It does a really good job of delivering on intrigue and action, and of taking advantage of Chan's skills without devolving into just an acrobatic martial arts circus. Chan sometimes feels like a caricature in Western movies, but he's pretty good in this one as a grieving father who is just trying to take some revenge on the people who took away the last good thing he had from his previous life. There is sufficient complexity in who's really behind the bombings to keep the plot rolling, and Brosnan is convincing as an aging IRA-connected politician who is living on the edge between his old life and the new peace and success he was hoping to achieve. The supporting cast is pretty decent, and filled with potential villains.
There's a bit of foul language and a little suggestive material, but no nudity. There's a good bit of action related violence, and some sequences with injuries from bombings that are somewhat graphic, but not even as much as you might have seen in the news. Not really a kids movie.
Overall, I enjoyed this movie, and was happy to see a film where Chan plays his age appropriately but still kicks ass. They did a good job of putting some Chan into a decent plot, rather than just building a meager plot around some Chan martial arts set pieces.
Slowguy
(insert pithy phrase here...)