Never push a good man too far
2017-09-28
$35.0M
113 min
Quan is a humble London businessman whose long-buried past erupts in a revenge-fueled vendetta when the only person left for him to love – his teenage daughter – dies in an Irish Republican Army car bombing. His relentless search to find the terrorists leads to a cat-and-mouse conflict with a British government official whose own past may hold the clues to the identities of the elusive killers.
Jackie Chan just keeps fuckin' bringing it doesn't he?
The serious tone of The Foreigner fits him well, but the role he plays seems oddly shoehorned in. I understand that the movie is in actual fact based on a novel called The Chinaman, which I assume unfolds more or less as the film does. But the Troubles-themed Political Drama makes up most of the runtime in The Foreigner, and the Action/Revenge Thriller element seems almost like at some point in pre-production the crew went "Holy shit, did you know we can put Jackie Chan in this? Quickly! Write him a role!". Although I'm sure that it's not the case, that is how it feels, and while the Action/Revenge Thriller element is the best part of the movie, its failure to mesh with the piece at large does bring it all down a bit.
Still a worthwhile watch if you're a fan of the Chan.
Final rating:★★½ - Had a lot that appealed to me, didn’t quite work as a whole.
