The Foreigner

The Foreigner Story: When a lonely, timid Chinese businessman loses his daughter in a London bomb blast, he goes all out to find who killed his daughter and ruined his world. His quest has him take on the highest authorities, no matter what the cost.

The Foreigner Review: We are used to seeing Jackie Chan as a quick-footed, glib-tongued Kung Fu master in movies. His mix of funny, stylised and over the top fight sequences has been the USP of his films. The Foreigner, that way, is quite different. Here you don’t get to see Jackie fight all out. In this one, he acts. As Quan, Jackie is portrayed as a loner whose only joy in life is his daughter Fan (Katie Leung). When he loses her to a ghastly bomb blast, blamed on an extreme faction of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), Quan goes into the deep end of a murky world of mercenaries, revolutionaries and politicians to avenge his little one’s death; chief among them being the Irish Politician Liam Hennessey (Pierce Brosnan).
At almost two hours, it may get a little overwhelming to see a little Asian man, park out in the woods and plan revenge against his daughter’s killers without any real fight. But the way that Casino Royale filmmaker Martin Campbell has chalked Quan’s character and the methods he uses, can keep you engrossed. Jackie Chan may not be the best actor out there, but he manages to deliver the goods on this one. Pierce Brosnan plays his part as a mercenary-turned- politician to the T.

The fact that IRA is not the most threatening terror outfit may make this film seem out of the place when placed in context with our current terrorism scenarios. Yet give it a chance. Go along with Jackie with this ride. He may not come out as a super hero always, in every scene, but its heartening to watch him try.