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The Foreigner (2017), R, ★★★


Welcome back, Jackie Chan! He has been in not many movies of recent years and lately, we are missing that factor that we had in the 1980s and 1990s where action movies have not been in conversation as much as we'd like to be. But, Chan is one of the heroes of that genre that makes an action movie exciting with his martial arts expertise. Was I excited for this movie? Yeah, somewhat. But, the only question is the director, Martin Campbell has had an uneven resume: so are we getting the director who made Casino Royale or the director who made Green Lantern. I think we get a mixture of the lean, mean action of Casino Royale and enjoyment from The Mask of Zorro, an underrated movie that he has made too. This movie brings dramatic chops out of Chan that we never had seen in his action movies.

A retired Vietnam War special forces operator named Ngoc Minh Quan (Jackie Chan) is dropping his daughter off somewhere but unfortunately, she is killed in a department store bombing run by a group called the "authentic IRA". He brings attention to Irish deputy minister Richard Bromley (Pierce Brosnan), who was a former leader of the IRA. Hennessy claims to have no recollection or knowledge of the bombings but Quan does not believe him. Quan puts Hennessy at bay as he stalks him and witnesses him with his mistress, Maggie (Charlie Murphy).

Quan and Hennessy go toe-to-toe as Quan investigates the bombers as Hennessy sends mercenaries and personal guards to kill him. Quan manages to escape and defeat all of them. Quan does not realizes that Hennessy sent the bombers but the reason for the investigation is to find out who is behind the event that killed his daughter and other innocent civilians.


Remember Taken with Liam Neeson? Yes, that movie is a good action movie that propelled Neeson to an action star at a later age. It is not going to catapult Chan into one because he already is action star, wait...legend in the action genre. Now having watched this movie, Chan, at age 63, has not slowed down. He makes the action sequences look easy and exciting in an otherwise someone familiar storyline about a man going against the government in his own hands. However, it is seemingly a standard action movie on paper but Chan is forming a character: a grieving father who has just lost his daughter and is demanding answers and emotes with such sadness that I have not seem from him...probably ever.

Obviously, Chan is good. Brosnan, without giving anything away, is solid as this government official that has secrets in his pocket and the whole plot with him turns ruthless and I will leave it at that. Based on the Stephen Leather novel, The Chinaman, David Marconi, the screenwriter, approaches the story with brutal tenacity and is succinct in its approach without giving not much backstory and I like that. If provided with too much information or backstory, the suspense would be gone within the first 20 minutes. There are twists along the way with certain characters and there is one little inside story for a character that seemed unnecessary. And, I will admit the ending is a bit weak. But, the movie has a well-crafted story that keeps you engaged, well-done action sequences and a very good dramatic performance by Jackie Chan. This is an action movie that works with full force.

***


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