O Estrangeiro

Was a huge fan of his movies made earlier in his career. Lately, most of his movies had been nothing but disappointment, until The Foreigner.

Jackie Chan isn't young anymore, but he was able to show that he still have some juice left.

Pure action, his stunt trademarks, and not too much of CGI (unlike recent movies where poor CGI effects really spoilt the films).

I will not spoil it for you, just got watch it, and you'll not regret it.

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.

Given that my "Jackie Chan Experience" had been limited to the "Rush Hour" films with Chris Tucker, I was totally (no pun intended) blown away by "The Foreigner." Not only is this is a really good revenge/action movie but Jackie Chan, though still limiting his English dialogue, manages to hold his own with Pierce Brosnan. Jackie Chan's performance made me think back to the silent movies (I went to film school) when actors conveyed emotion through facial expression, not words.

As for the plot--that aI won't spoil for you--it's above average, and blends several social issues about immigration, family loyalty, and Britain/Ireland history. Bottom line: this film was much better than I expected it would be.

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 movie is based on Stephen Leather's novel THE CHINAMAN. That's how the other characters see Jackie Chan's character: as an old Chinaman whose daughter had been killed by an explosion in a dress store, from a bomb planted by a wing of the IRA, breaking 19 years of peace. Jackie's search for the people who killed his daughter lead him to Pierce Brosnan, an old IRA hand, now the British Minister in charge of keeping the peace in Northern Ireland. He tries to comfort Jackie, but can't help him, when Jackie demands names... so Jackie blows up his wash room.

Jackie is not whom he appears to be, but neither is Brosnan, nor, in the end, are any of the main players, kindly, platitudinous politicians. It's a world of lies, corruption, violence and betrayal under a facade of peace and smiles that Jackie's single-minded pursuit of answers reveals: he's almost an anti-MacGuffin, appearing to matter very little to any of the people in the movie, who causes all the fuss.

Pierce Brosnan offers a fine performance as what can only be described as the Minister for IRA Relations in Northern Ireland. Chan's performance is far from his usual work, but he has always been a physical actor, more than one who works with words or facial expressions, and he lived up to my hopes as a long-time fan.