Film Screening 14th February, 2018

Poster for The Foreigner

The Foreigner 

7:30 PM, 14th February, 2018

  • MA
  • 114 mins
  • 2017
  • Martin Campbell
  • Jackie Chan, Pierce Brosnan, Michael McElhatton, Katie Leung

Ngoc Minh Quan (Chan) is a Chinese restaurateur living in London who finds his world torn apart when his teenage daughter is killed in a terrorist attack. Discovering that the attack is the work of Northern Irish radicals, he sets his sights on former IRA leader-turned-politician Liam Hennessey (Brosnan, reuniting with his GoldenEye director), who appears to have ties to the bombing and its perpetrators. Is Quan on the right track, or is Hennessey an innocent player? Either way, it certainly helps that Quan happens to have a very particular set of skills with which to find out…

His trademark inventive action aside, this is Jackie Chan as you’ve never seen him. There’s not a Chris Tucker or Owen Wilson in sight – and Chan’s performance is a dark and refreshing change of pace. Pitting him against the former 007 is a stroke of genius too, even if Chan is occasionally sidelined in favour of Brosnan’s more convoluted political plotline.

Don’t come expecting an Expendables-style brawl between ageing action icons, or even a Taken rip-off – The Foreigner is far more nuanced than either: a twisty, old fashioned thriller that’s well worth a look for Chan and Brosnan’s against-type performances alone.

Adrian Ma