THE FOREIGNER (2017)

Genre: Thriller / Action
Running Length: 1:54
Cast: Jackie Chan, Pierce Brosnan, Charlie Murphy, Orla Brady, Dermot Crowley, Rory Fleck Byrne, Ray Fearon
Director: Martin Campbell
Screenplay: David Marconi, based on “The Chinaman” by Stephen Leather

WARNING: What you see in THE FOREIGNER trailer is not what you're going to get in the movie itself.

There is more going on than just a simple revenge flick as suggested by the trailer. I suspect movie-goers expecting another Taken-like movie will be sorely disappointed. To be fair, there is enough action scenes to keep viewers occupied but 70% of the movie is mainly centered around a political thriller.

As I was expecting a good old fashioned revenge flick ie. Payback, I was pleasantly surprised to be introduced to a bigger world of dirty politics set against the tension of the Irish-British relations. This approach kept me engaged.

That said, the biggest problem I have with The Foreigner is I felt like I was watching two separate movies at the same time, interweaving one another clumsily. You have Jackie Chan's character as a grieving disheveled father doing whatever it takes to seek revenge for his daughter's death, and you have Pierce Brosnan's character as a government minister with a shady past trying to move up the political ranks.

What I think could have worked better if this film was made into a series instead. It's because there is just so many things going on - the story ended up pretty complex. As a feature length movie, it didn't give enough time for the different characters and sub-plots to breathe. Perhaps it was just bad editing?

In terms of performance, Chan's dramatic turn here is believable. There is this emotional scene in the beginning of the film where you see his character cradling his dead daughter. I just couldn't help but felt sorry for him. As for Brosnan, he equally gives a solid performance here as his character desperately tries to do what's right before his past catches up with him.

RATING: 7/10