Is Jackie Chan too old to be making these kinds of action movies? The answer is no, but someone on the set seemed to think that he was, since he was lacking in a surprising number of scenes. Chan has publicly stated that he wouldn’t mind taking a break from stunts and focusing more on a drama, and this film is definitely heavy on the drama, but he is still doing his own stunts, and watching Chan not only as a fighter but as a storyteller is exactly what this film needed to keep it afloat. It’s not perfect by any means – it would have been a lot better if the focus had been more on Chan, in all honesty – but it was able to stay decently entertaining by allowing Chan’s character to guide and craft the film to his own ends. Whether or not you are familiar with the politics that the film tries to make you interested in, just looking forward to Chan’s next move is enough to keep you invested. Maybe this isn’t a film worth a $10 film ticket, but it is definitely worth a viewing at some point.
Juan Ngoc Minh (Chan), an immigrant restaurant owner living in London, finds his world completely shattered when his only remaining family, teenage daughter Fan (Katie Leung), is killed in a terrorist bombing by the “Authentic IRA”. As government officials seek to discover the identity of the bombers and halt rising fear between British and Irish radicals, all eyes fall on the deputy minister of Ireland Liam Hennessy (Pierce Brosnan), a former IRA member. Minh goes to both the London police and to Hennessy and asks them for one thing: the names of the men responsible for planting the bomb, so that he might exact his own vengeance for his daughter’s death. He believes that Hennessy can give him the names of the responsible parties, and when Hennessy refuses, Minh forces the deputy into a game of increasing danger to himself, his family, and his position in both countries. As Minh searches for his justice, the Authentic IRA is gearing up for a final attack, and the countries are on the verge of exploding.
The story of Chan’s character, while maybe not a new one, is an emotional powerhouse because Chan makes us believe in his pain. Just after the explosion, we follow the reporter Ian Wood (Rufus Jones) from his office to the bomb site and watch as he photographs the tragedy. Though the scenes are bloody and shocking, the moment that really catches at the throat is Minh holding the body of his daughter, sobbing and almost hidden from view. Wood lowers his camera out of respect, and we also feel that we are intruding on this moment of pain and suffering, all delivered through the strength Chan’s performance alone. Really his character’s entire self is a physical interpretation of grief and quiet rage, and that makes him even more fascinating to watch. As Brosnan and the IRA members (who play off like the Mafia) dance around the truth, lie, and disguise their intentions, Minh is upfront and no-nonsense, which not only makes his character the rock around the film but also provides a few surprising laughs because he is just not having it. It does take the film a little longer than I would have liked to explain why Minh is such a badass (I mean, you and I know that Jackie Chan can destroy anyone he wants, but that doesn’t explain why his character can, you need backstory for that), but he is enough fun to watch that you are willing to wait to understand more about him. And trust me, his fight sequences make everything feel that all’s right with the world.
The rest of the film is not nearly as exciting, sadly, which begs the question why the IRA took up the majority of the time and Chan was almost sidelined. Brosnan gives a solid performance, but nothing exciting or truly investing, even though he is our second leading man. His relationships with his wife and mistress, though important to the overall story, aren’t really enough to hold our captivity, and the wife is not developed enough to support their story together. There’s also a certain air of confusion if you’re not really in tune with the history of the IRA and the two countries this film is set in. This film is adapted from the novel “The Chinaman” (Another adaption? Really?) and focuses more on the Irish-English political swamp than you might actually have experience with, and despite the fact that the movie spends a lot of time letting Brosnan and his coworkers explain the plot to you, it doesn’t explain why the plot had to happen in the first place. Yes, there’s a lot of death in the history of these two countries, but why? It’s meant to take place in modern time, so all of this death was fairly recent, but what was the purpose? Who wanted what?
Explain it to us like we don’t understand the history, rather than focusing on why Brosnan wants to be deputy director so badly. It would add oodles of character development to his wife and buddies.
It’s also quite funny how little the bombers are needed in this film, despite the fact that everything is meant to be centered around them. Most of the battle in the film is between Minh and Hennessey, their own private war, while the bombers still carry out their mission with little to no interference. This freedom of the bombers also makes the actual police force surprisingly effective – even though we’re rooting for Minh to get his time with bombers eventually (and eventually it’s great), it’s almost weird when we cut back to law enforcement actually getting things done when our main characters are almost messing around on purpose. It’s not a long film at all, but if there had been a focus shift from the IRA to Jackie Chan, it would not have felt like it dragged as much.
To sum up, The Foreigner is enjoyable, but we all need to have more faith in Jackie Chan. Sure, you can build the plot a little bit with his opponents, but don’t lose focus – his power and emotion are the real ticket seller here. No one else even comes close to making the audience feel what the movie wants them to feel like Chan does.
3 / 5
New exercise goal – be like Jackie Chan who is able to do his own stunts in his sixties.
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