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Movie Review: 'The Foreigner'

Jackie Chan and Pierce Brosnan are top notch in The Foreigner.

By Sean PatrickPublished 6 years ago 4 min read
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It seems that I am not a big fan of the work of actor Pierce Brosnan. It’s not that I have an active dislike for the man, but rather, in looking at my cumulative opinion of his work over his 35-plus year career, I have only given Brosnan two positive reviews. Grant you, I have only been a critic for 20 years, but Brosnan was on TV for most of the time before I came into my profession. He had arguably his biggest successes in the James Bond franchise during my time as a critic. Then again, I don’t have a particularly high opinion of that franchise, either.

Thankfully, with the release of the terrorism-centered action movie, The Foreigner, I can legitimately say that I liked a movie starring Pierce Brosnan and not have to qualify it. Brosnan is genuinely thrilling in the role of a duplicitous Irish politician and former member of the Irish Republican Army. Brosnan is magnetic, and I loved the tiny shifts of his manner when he switched from practiced politician to trained terrorist and back again.

The Foreigner co-stars Jackie Chan as a man who has just lost his daughter to an IRA bomb. Well, that is to say that a supposed new faction of the IRA has claimed the bombing while people like Brosnan’s politician do their damnedest to distance themselves. It's part of Brosnan's charm that he can switch easily between the worlds of modern politician and former terrorist. In real life, in fact, more than a few IRA members labeled as terrorists years ago now hold powerful government positions in Ireland.

Chan’s Mr. Quan isn’t interested in how politicians want to frame the attacks; he believes Brosnan knows who the bombers are and he intends to use his skills as a former army ranger in Vietnam to force Brosnan to reveal who killed his daughter. Chan, like Brosnan, is quite riveting in this rare, dramatic role. Toning down his usual physicality, due to age as well as the needs of the plot, Chan’s Quan is a precision killer who takes pains only to kill the people who deserve it.

The tete-a-tete between Chan and Brosnan has some real fire to it, especially near the end when Chan is close to getting what he wants and shows no fear of walking right into Brosnan’s home to show how serious and dangerous he is. Chan’s always been a hell of a fighter, but this is the first time in a western feature film where he’s come off as a legit badass. No playing for laughs, no hamming it up with the stunts, and none of that "Jackie Chan smile" we’ve grown used to. It’s all business and it’s all good.

The Foreigner was directed by Martin Campbell, who is not one of my favorite directors, but is a solid craftsman. Campbell’s skill lies in creating action spectacle. His bombs and chases in The Foreigner are fully on point. But The Foreigner is the rare occasion where Campbell has characters strong enough to keep up with his skilled action set-pieces. Brosnan and Chan mesh perfectly into the action scenes and bring an entirely new depth to Campbell’s style with their genuinely awesome badass-ery.

The Foreigner is not without issues. It is, at times, rather convoluted and murky on some details. The script also struggles with a little too much exposition, a little too much of characters explaining who they are to us. I understand the motivation to explain some of the complex details and to shorthand some of the supporting characters whose stories would slow the pace, but I would have preferred a few more well-timed visuals over the talky exposition that doesn’t slow the pace, but does sound awkward and forced.

Thanks to Brosnan and Chan however, the dialogue isn’t a big enough issue for me to hold back on recommending the movie. Brosnan has never been better, outside of maybe his comic turn in The Matador with Greg Kinnear. The little touches he brings to his character are just perfect and his Irish accent has a gruff, commanding quality to it. Chan meanwhile, may be a better comic actor than a dramatic one, but he makes for a very compelling and very believable hero: smart, resourceful and skilled beyond measure. It’s a lot of fun watching Brosnan and Chan maneuver through The Foreigner, and for that I absolutely recommend it.

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About the Creator

Sean Patrick

Hello, my name is Sean Patrick He/Him, and I am a film critic and podcast host for the I Hate Critics Movie Review Podcast I am a voting member of the Critics Choice Association, the group behind the annual Critics Choice Awards.

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