Review: The Foreigner

Global action superstar Jackie Chan displays surprisingly solid dramatic chops in the political revenge thriller The Foreigner. Based on Stephen Leather's 1992 novel The Chinaman, the film is a riff on Taken, which has now become the template for aging action heroes and also serves as a reunion for Pierce Brosnan and director Martin Campbell, who worked together on Brosnan's first Bond film, GoldenEye.

The film begins in London with Chan's Ngoc Minh Quan witnessing the death of his daughter in a department store bombing perpetrated by a group called the Authentic IRA. The Chinese restaurant owner is devastated and is determined to discover the men responsible. When Scotland Yard commander Richard Bromley (Ray Fearon) counsels him to have patience, Quan turns his attention onto Liam Hennessy (Pierce Brosnan), the Irish deputy minister whom Quan believes may have an inside track due to his former status as Provisional IRA leader. Quan's instincts are correct but Hennessy, dealing with a far bigger agenda, refuses to help the grieving pensioner.

What Hennessy doesn't realise is that Quan is no meek shuffling retiree. Quan is a U.S.-trained mercenary and he resurrects his special set of skills, starting with setting off a homemade bomb in Hennessy's office, to intimidate the duplicitous politician into giving him the names of the bombers. What ensues is almost farcical as Hennessy deploys more and more of his goons upon Quon, who continually sends them back bruised, broken or worse.

One of the chief pleasures of The Foreigner is watching the increasing fear and desperation take over Hennessy. One can practically feel the clamminess seep through as he tries to juggle his various machinations whilst vainly extricating the thorn in his side that is Quon. Though known for being suave and sophisticated, Brosnan registers strongest when allowed to be shifty and menacing (to wit: The Matador and The Ghost Writer) and he does a fine job balancing Hennessy's frustrations at being continually thwarted with allowing the character's darker nature to surface, especially during a scene where he learns of a particularly personal betrayal.

The other source of entertainment, naturally, is Chan who, whilst not as sprightly as he was in his heyday, still cuts a formidable action figure. Campbell stages several striking action sequences that allow Chan to display his characteristic dexterity without sacrificing the physical and emotional gravitas that he has invested in Quon.

The Foreigner

Directed by: Martin Campbell

Written by: David Marconi; based on the novel The Chinaman by Stephen Leather

Starring: Jackie Chan, Pierce Brosnan, Michael McElhatton, Liu Tao, Charlie Murphy, Katie Leung, Orla Brady, Ray Fearon