'The Foreigner' Is Easily the Best Movie in Recent Years for Both Jackie Chan and Pierce Brosnan

To say that The Foreigner is to Jackie Chan as is Taken is to Liam Neeson isn’t exactly accurate.  Jackie Chan has always been an action star – one of the best ever – and has still been making action films in recent years despite being already in his 60’s.  However, those recent action films of his are action comedies; it has been a while since he has done a serious role – an opportunity that The Foreigner has given him.  In The Foreigner, not only does Chan have to do martial arts and stunts, but he also has to do some dramatic acting.  I think this is the first time he has ever done something like this.  Maybe we can say that, just as Neeson was a surprising action star in Taken, Chan is a surprising dramatic actor in The Foreigner.  In addition, like Taken, The Foreigner is basically about a father who is a retired badass and is forced to turn to his former vocation’s skills for the sake of his daughter.

Its plot centers on Ngoc Minh Quan (Jackie Chan), an ex-Special Forces during the Vietnam War who has long immigrated into London to become a British citizen and a restaurant owner.  After his only daughter is killed in a bomb attack by a splinter cell of UDI, an Irish terrorist organization, Quan becomes determined to find the perpetrators and avenge her death.  Desperate for answers, he turns to Irish deputy minister Liam Hennessy (Pierce Brosnan), a former extremist himself, who is also looking for the ones responsible due to political and personal reasons.  Hennesy insists he doesn’t know anything, but Quan is unconvinced.  Thus, conflict ensues between the two, while the terrorists proceed to move to their next phase.

The Foreigner is a stimulating action thriller.  There’s a balance of familiar tropes and thoughtful plot points.  It has political intrigue; even pacing; restrained, realistic sensibilities; complex character motivations; an energetic revenge narrative; cloak-and-dagger elements; a sense of mystery; decent twists; fun fight scenes; and riveting, praiseworthy performances from Jackie Chan and Pierce Brosnan.

Jackie Chan is a legend.  But he hasn’t really done anything of note in the big screen for some time now.  His recent action comedies are primarily forgettable, cluttered, or bonkers.  So it was really great to see him do something different: a non-comedic action film.  And it turned out being his best work in years.

The same thing is true with Brosnan.  This is also his best film in a long time.  The Foreigner is the only movie other than The Ghost Writer and Oceans (a Disneynature documentary he narrated) that I enjoyed from him ever since he retired from playing James Bond (he’s my favorite 007 by the way).

To sum it up, The Foreigner is pretty good in my opinion.  For what it intends to be and what it is, it feels like an utterly tight and well-made film.  I found no apparent problems with it.  I enjoyed it in the same manner that I enjoyed Taken.

Now if only we can get Bryan Mills and Ngoc Minh Quan to team up in a movie.