The Foreigner

After Jackie Chan's daughter is killed by the so called 'authentic IRA' he sets out to track down her killer, by coercing ex IRA member and now deputy minister Pierce Brosnan to find out who did it.

2 stories essentially run in parallel here, Chan's revenge which gives us most of the standard, albeit well paced action and Brosnan working to find the killers whilst his past catches up with him

Not surprisingly given Martin Campbell is at the helm this hangs together well particularly the political elements and a fine star performance from Brosnan - seeing an older more subdued turn from Chan is also interesting

In London, Quan Ngoc Minh (Jackie Chan) takes his daughter dress shopping and she's killed in a terrorist bombing claimed by the Irish UDI. Northern Ireland government deputy minister Liam Hennessy (Pierce Brosnan) is a former UDI leader who knows nothing about the bombing. He fears upcoming pardons being endangered and an unraveling of the political peace accord. Mr. Quan confronts Hennessy in his own way demanding names.

Jackie leaves behind his comedic skills. He replaces his fun style of kung fu fighting to deliver some darker fights and a more dramatic performance. I'm more convinced than ever that he should be doing a seriously dark Death Wish reboot. He's ready for this acting turn. This is good for his career and hopefully, somebody has a good franchise for the man. Brosnan is a great foil playing a two-faced character. This is a thriller with action. It's a throwback to the 90s including the IRA replacements. They should have simply done a period piece which would be even better.

The film "The Foreigner" is a truly brilliant thriller that holds your breath from the first minute to the last minute. You never know what will happen and have to stare on the screen all the time. The makeup, sound mixing, action choreography, and acting performances are all top-notch. Jackie Chan perhaps gives his career-best performances, both physically and emotionally.

More specifically, there are two disparate story lines in "The Foreigner". The first is an action line, where Quan(Jackie Chan) seeks revenge after the death of his daughter, and the second story line is a political one, in which Hennessy(Pierce Brosnan), a former IRA member, gets involved in a complicated conspiracy. The two story lines progress in parallel in an extremely fast pace, and converge from time to time. The directing is just amazing in the sense that such a complex story can be told in less than two hours. Some action fans might get confused when they find out that only half of the film is about action, but the political story line only adds to the complexity and depth of the film, making it more relevant to real life.

In one word, I would give the film a 9/10 rating.

This is a super engrossing action-thriller-drama.

An innocent child is the victim in a terrorist bomb but the perpetrators do not know of the desperate determination and grit of the victim's father.

There are two astonishing performances: first from Jackie Chan as the aggrieved father; and second from Pierce Brosnan as a suspicious and duplicitous politician.

Jackie Chan is outstanding as the grieving parent out for justice. And despite some action being of the kung fu variety that does not detract from a great show.

Pierce Brosnan is equally remarkable, displaying amazing realism in his portrayal of an Irish political leader.

This movie is highly recommended:

8/10.

I expected the movie to be a standard action movie with a weak plot. This movie surprised me on several levels. First the plot was above average for an action movie. Second, Jackie Chan turned in a subdued and very good character portrayal. Third,the movie was not the typical martial arts laden Jackie Chan performance. There were martial art scenes but they were not over done as in prior Chan movies. Supporting cast led by Pierce Brosnan were also very good. In summary, if your a fan of the action genre you will not be disappointed.