Review by C.J. Bunce
The Foreigner features the return to the big screen of two maturing lead actors: 63-year-old, international martial arts action star Jackie Chan in his first major English film role since 2010’s remake of The Karate Kid, and 64-year-old, international action star Pierce Brosnan, who, despite several smaller roles hasn’t headlined a major hit since his last stint as James Bond in 2002’s Die Another Day. But The Foreigner is more–it’s a triumph–for the actors and for the action genre, providing a showcase of acting talent supported by a solid story that doesn’t miss a step from beginning to end. What looks like it could be another entry in the nature of Transporter or Taken, it’s actually a great follow-up to Patriot Games or Clear and Present Danger. If you can get past a title that doesn’t quite fit, you’ll find a fully loaded, political thriller like the novels of Tom Clancy in his heyday–timely, riveting, and satisfying on every front.
Both stars have an entire portfolio of performances they tap into, that they use to foster believability in their characters. Jackie Chan has already shown audiences he has the physicality to portray an ex-special forces soldier with brains and savvy, part MacGyver and part Rambo, although it typically accompanies his trademark smile and a film full of laughs. With his grueling physical feats in film after film, he must be the hardest working actor anywhere. But only now do we see Chan convey a full spectrum of emotions as he portrays Mr. Quan, a happy, proud father who is devastated and left to seek out the people behind his daughter’s murder. He’s immensely believable and gives audiences one of the best revenge stories in decades. Think of the days of Chuck Norris fighting back in a decade of “payback” roles–but with Chan there’s an added level of authenticity. Then there’s Pierce Brosnan, who has that charisma that early on forecasted his destiny to play James Bond. Brosnan has now stepped into the rarity of being an ex-Bond actor but with similar class and style as exhibited by Sean Connery, who successfully forged a second acting phase of his career in films like The Hunt for Red October and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. At last Brosnan gets to show off that he, too, has an intense, commanding presence, a force to be reckoned with as a mature actor with gravitas, while maintaining his refined appeal and charm. He also delivers some of the best lines of his career in a convincing, rapid-fire Irish accent as political leader Liam Hennessy. Chan plays a good man pushed too far who must carve out his own brand of vigilante justice, and Brosnan a very real modern villain, but a layered villain who tries to follow a code within a dangerous cat-and-mouse game. By film’s end audiences are left eager to find out what these two performers have for us next.
What appeared to be a standard dramatic trailer for The Foreigner served the film well, holding back why the story is so intriguing. Unlike most trailers these days that give away too much, the trailer for the film provided only a hint at what the story entails, a mainstream drama about domestic terrorism in England and a search by one man to learn the truth when his daughter is killed in an explosion. London has had more than its share of terrorist incidents and the jarring visuals in the film mirror real-life horrors in England, although the twist is that the villainy is from within, as some faction of the Irish Republican Army is returning out of the past, and ex-IRA leadership and the government in England must play a delicate game of practical politics to learn who exactly is responsible. Few recent films have shown a balance of timely real-world atrocities while crafting such an intriguing fictional story. Although not something on the front pages in the U.S., the real-life faction of the IRA began a return to hostilities in 2011, so the story is a bit “ripped from the headlines” and for a U.S. audience a surprising return of those early 1990s themes from Patriot Games.
Martin Campbell, who directed Casino Royale and GoldenEye, directs The Foreigner, reflecting his skill in coordinating twisty political angles while orchestrating compelling action sequences. The film is based on the novel The Chinaman, by Stephen Leather, with a solid script by David Marconi. As a title “The Foreigner” makes little sense–Chan’s character has roots in China and the U.S. but has been a British citizen for more than a decade. The rest of the cast represents government players in London or IRA factions in the north. But The Chinaman is almost a salvageable title, as that at least is how Hennessy refers to Mr. Quan as Mr. Quan stalks Hennessy across the country. Something less offputting with the word “vengeance” or “revenge” would be more on point–or “betrayal”–as the film serves up a surprising breadth of betrayal woven into the story.
It’s not typical that a large supporting cast takes such a backseat to the two lead characters as happens here. Their story and strong acting carries the film. It’s also not typical when a film ties up all the threads by the end. Audiences will be sure to be satisfied with the result. Would the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ever reward actors in this type of film? Chan received a lifetime achievement award at the Oscars last year, and it would make a great statement for him to earn a Best Actor award next year. Both performances by Chan and Brosnan are worthy of Oscar nominations.
An exciting political thriller with great performances by Jackie Chan and Pierce Brosnan, The Foreigner is in theaters everywhere beginning tomorrow.
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