This doesn’t detract from the experience but enhances it. Instead Quan’s character’s age is known (61 in the film, Chan was 63 when it was released) and his styling is the perfect example of the dad he is in the opening scenes: graying hair and clothes more suited for a PTA meeting than a shootout. Unlike other action movies staring aging action-heroes, The Foreigner doesn’t aim to make a movie where they age-down Chan. If you can’t tell by now, Quan is the best part of the film and it’s a credit to Chan’s acting and physicality. As Quan’s past unfolds, the dots start connecting as to why a mild-mannered restaurant owner would turn vigilante. The fight scenes are few compared to what is shown in the trailer but ultimately they’re so well-done that they stick in your mind after viewing. When it comes to reviewing The Foreigner, it takes a little to get going but at just under 2-hours, the pacing works to build a connection between you and Quan. We get to see Chan as a skilled fighter, surviving encounters with multiple IRA members sent to capture him. It’s at this point where the movie really picks up. Quan embarks on a game of cat-and-mouse, hoping that Hennessy’s past will reveal the men who killed daughter. When Quan repeatedly calls and receives no information, he decides that Hennessy must know more than he is putting on. When he sees a news report chronicling Liam Hennessy’s (Pierce Brosnan) investigation into the bombing and it’s potential roots in the IRA, Hennessy’s organization before his political career. He’s shown as a sad old man, waiting, knees together clutching his life’s savings trying to find out who took his child’s life. It’s a truly emotional scene and one where Chan’s acting ability really shines.Īs the aftermath of the terrorist attack unfolds, Quan is shown asking for the names of the bombers, sitting in the police station every day, waiting for an answer. Not the look into the sky grief stricken cry, but the cry of a man who is ready to fight through the tragedy, with streams of tears coming down his cheeks while he looks past Lam. In fact, in one interaction with what appears to be his only friend Lam (Tao Liu) he silently cries. Instead, we see him as a grieving father, a man who walks through his daughter’s room with a stare that makes you feel his pain. We don’t get the Chan that most people in the US know, he isn’t comedic or using his martial arts skills to beat up bad guys from the get-go. A quiet, and protective father, his dark past comes to light when his daughter is killed in an act of terrorism. The tagline says it all: Never push a good man too far.ĭirected by Martin Campbell ( Casino Royale, and Golden Eye), the film is centered around Quan Ngoc Minh (Jackie Chan), a Chinese immigrant living in London with his daughter. However, after watching The Foreigner, I feel confident saying that this was the most underrated movie of 2017 – if not only for Chan’s dynamic performance. The Foreigner, staring Jackie Chan and Pierce Brosnan, was released in the United States in October of 2017.
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