The Foreigner features a very dramatic Jackie Chan

Movie Title:  The Foreigner

Grade: B+

Rating: R, 1 hour 54 minutes

In a Nutshell: Americans love movies.  And Jackie Chan.  We love watching him perform incredible stunts and fight sequences, mixed with humor and fun.  This isn't that kind of movie.

I was surprised at how much of a political thriller this movie was and how good of a dramatic actor Jackie Chan is.  It’s impressive how he can create such a relatable “every man” character while still having almost superhuman fighting skills.

The movie is based on The Foreigner: previously published as The Chinaman

Uplifting theme: 

• Revenge.
• Family.
• “Never push a good man too far.”

Things I liked:

• If you loved the first Rambo movie Rambo: First Blood where he hides and kills people in sneaky ways, you’ll get a kick out of some of the things Jackie Chan’s character does in this flick.  It also has a Liam Neeson Taken movie feel to it, as Jackie Chan's character is completely driven by the love he has for his daughter.
• Pierce Brosnan does an excellent job playing a complex character.  His Irish accent sounds pretty authentic too.

Things I didn’t like:

• I expected more humor, since it’s a Jackie Chan movie, but this movie was very much a drama.
• The mixture of Jackie Chan action and political thriller created an uneven film.  Surprisingly, he’s not in as much of the movie as you would think he would be.
• This has nothing to do with the 2003 Steven Seagal movie called The Foreigner.  It seems like they should have selected a different name for the movie.

Tips for parents: 

• Bloody car bomb and lots of explosions.  LOTS of bombs.
• Lots of death and dead bodies.
• Lots of violence.  Um….it’s a Jackie Chan movie!
• Profanity, including some F-bombs.

MOVIE REVIEW MOM

@trinaboice