And with enough twists and turns to feel more like a political thriller than anything else, one could be forgiven if they forget that The Foreigner has been sold as being a straightforward revenge story while watching it. But The Foreigner is also much more of a two-hander than any of the trailers or synopses have let on, and the B-plot involving Hennessy working his way through all of his connections to try and secure his political position takes up a shockingly high amount of the film’s runtime. Quan’s mission is about as straightforward as it comes, and when Chan periodically mows through all of Hennessy’s guards and defenses, The Foreigner lives up to its dark tone and premise. And with his possible connections to the new IRA-orchestrated bombings stuck in secrecy, Quan begins an explosive crusade to scare and threaten Hennessy until he, as Quan believes he will, reveals the names of the Authentic IRA members responsible for the bombing. Play Quan’s mission eventually leads to him crossing paths with Brosnan’s Liam Hennessy, a politician with violent roots in the pre-Good Friday Agreement IRA, but who dedicated the latter half of his life to bettering the relations between Ireland and England, while also keeping his pockets full and political appeal high. Left without any other family members to comfort him, Quan makes it his mission to find those responsible for the bombing and bring them to justice. Among the casualties is the daughter of Quan Ngoc Minh (Chan), a Chinese restaurant owner with a history serving in the Vietnam-era special forces. Adapted from Stephen Leather’s 1992 novel The Chinaman, the film takes place in modern-day London and Belfast, where a new group of terrorists known as the “Authentic IRA” claim responsibility for a London bombing that kills over a dozen civilians and leaves many more injured. Brosnan, for his part, trades in his suave, Bond-like heroic swagger to play a corrupt politician who often closely resembles a mob boss, while Chan turns in a grim and quiet performance, directly contrary to the comedic roles most American audiences associate him with. Both actors are tasked with inhabiting roles that are antithetical to the on screen personas they’re most well-known for. It doesn’t hurt that director Martin Campbell has placed two capable acting veterans at the forefront of the film, in Pierce Brosnan and Jackie Chan.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |