Read Mixed User Reviews for The Foreigner

6

CraigEcholsOct 13, 2017

I'll start with this, if you are going into this movie to see Jackie Chan, you'll be quite a bit disappointed. Chan may have been in the previews, but this is really Pierce Brosnan's movie. Not to say that is a bad thing because Brosnan givesI'll start with this, if you are going into this movie to see Jackie Chan, you'll be quite a bit disappointed. Chan may have been in the previews, but this is really Pierce Brosnan's movie. Not to say that is a bad thing because Brosnan gives an superb performance. The story isn't bad albeit a bit cliche. When Jackie does have his moments, he shines very well and his cat and mouse with Brosnan is very well done. However, there is not enough of it. The movie goes from desperate father seeking revenge to a huge conspiracy plan that almost leaves Chan in no man's land. Imagine if Taken suddenly turned into Sicario, yet it was still Taken. Now despite that, this is not a bad movie. The real issue that I have is, I wanted less international conspiracy and more Jackie Chan. He was the selling point of the movie. I came to see a 63 year old Chan kick *** and take names. That didn't happen as much as I would have wanted in this movie. Pretty much all the action you see in the previews are his action scenes. You would think a broken father with nothing left to lose and a spec ops background would be the perfect recipe for a movie of him tearing through opponents. But its really an afterthought here. This isn't a bad movie, just wasn't what I expected. TL;DR Less international black ops terrorism story, more Chan please.… Expand

3 of 6 users found this helpful33

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5

robbywarren93Jan 31, 2018

Honestly expected a lot more from this. It's not the Jackie Chan action movie it was marketed as, it's quite talky, there's action but it's all spaced out and doesn't last too long, and Pierce Brosnan has more screen-time than Chan does.Honestly expected a lot more from this. It's not the Jackie Chan action movie it was marketed as, it's quite talky, there's action but it's all spaced out and doesn't last too long, and Pierce Brosnan has more screen-time than Chan does. Jackie Chan kills it and he makes it worth watching but otherwise it's just meh… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

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6

JLuis_001Oct 21, 2017

I have seen just a few Jackie Chan's movies lately, the last one wasn't reallt a disaster, ''Railroad Tigers'', nothing from other world but it had more enthusiasm than his last failures, nevertheless I fervently believed that his betterI have seen just a few Jackie Chan's movies lately, the last one wasn't reallt a disaster, ''Railroad Tigers'', nothing from other world but it had more enthusiasm than his last failures, nevertheless I fervently believed that his better times already had passed and perhaps it was time to accept the retirement, at least from the action genre but I must be honest, if he does not do that, then what does he has left?

The Foreigner has nothing new, nothing fresh or relatively flashy and yet is as functional as its elements allow it be. Chan and Pierce Bronan show a more solid commitment than usual and although this is an action thriller saturated with cliches and its mistakes is not really a disappointment with all its letters.
You will not have any epiphany after seeing it, I doubt you'll remember it after a few days, however I give it credit for being better than I expected because at this point they don't even try anymore.… Expand

1 of 3 users found this helpful12

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5

EpicLadySpongeOct 13, 2017

The Foreigner's attempt to grab audience's attention is, if you are very experienced with movies, very unmissable at high rates. Ironically, the movie's tagline is "Never push a good man too far" yet the film attempts to push the audience tooThe Foreigner's attempt to grab audience's attention is, if you are very experienced with movies, very unmissable at high rates. Ironically, the movie's tagline is "Never push a good man too far" yet the film attempts to push the audience too far into a most likely film that has trouble reminding itself where to go when the film advances to the end. On the other hand, inexperienced people may find this very fun to watch and I accept that, but, with many issues the film gave during midway, I find it very exhausted to know who would literally put a heart onto this film.… Expand

2 of 7 users found this helpful25

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6

TVJerryOct 16, 2017

Don’t expect Jackie Chan’s impish smile and affable personality cause this is a dramatic departure for the action star (he even cries…twice). He plays an immigrant to London, whose his daughter is killed in a terrorist bombing. He sets out toDon’t expect Jackie Chan’s impish smile and affable personality cause this is a dramatic departure for the action star (he even cries…twice). He plays an immigrant to London, whose his daughter is killed in a terrorist bombing. He sets out to find and punish the people responsible. Pierce Brosnan is on hand to complicate the plot. He plays an Irish liaison to the British government whose own interests provide most of the complications (and a bit of confusion). Meanwhile, Chan uses his martial arts skills to exact revenge. It’s fun to watch these occasional scenes, but there’s much more personal interaction (meaning talk) than action.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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6

poewilsonOct 15, 2017

The P.H. Metric 61/100

The Foreigner rings out in the same way a nostalgia flick does, let us take something that was more cutesy and lovable and make it gritty, then get applauded for the dark tones of something that is almost the same asThe P.H. Metric 61/100

The Foreigner rings out in the same way a nostalgia flick does, let us take something that was more cutesy and lovable and make it gritty, then get applauded for the dark tones of something that is almost the same as the cutesy original version.

Directing: 5/10

Now the marketing is going to sell you on this is the director that made that gritty reboot to the Bond series (pattern?), but this is also a director that has averaged borderline ok to pure trash for almost every film he has made for the last 18 years, so if they are going to tout the good, remember the bad as well. The Foreigner is plain, nothing special, nothing amazing, average work from an increasingly average director. The camera work reeks of status quo and scenes as well as their shots play like the project was being rushed and not given any true forethought.

Acting: 5/10

Brosnan and Chan acting powerhouses, they are not, but Chan is cast in a similar light as Jet Li in Danny the Dog, do not let him say much and get him to look brooding, but in terms of acting there is very little to display. Brosnan has to carry 90% of the acting in the film and while he makes a go of it, his talent is not quite there to be able to pull it off. Aside from these two, a series of increasingly wooden people try to make their arguments heard, but are nearly pointless in the cause.

Cinematography: 7/10

Tattersall's cinematography is above average but not his best work to date and the fight scenes were shot in a such away that it felt like you could see Chan get dragged by the invisible rope every time he did a double drop kick.

Editing 7/10

Catanzaro finally gets to step from out of the world of television and edit her first real film, (Smoking Aces 2 does not count) it was not a horrible first outing and with a couple steps into tightening up the pace of certain shots and phasing out some action that causes the quality of the film to go down, she could see her star rise higher.

Score: 7/10

The sound crew did not let the film down and those pulsing tones, are felt hard and they are felt fast. One or two miscues drops the score a bit but overall decent job.

Visual Effects: 6/10

I feel mean giving the visual department such a low score, I know they can only provide what is scripted and asked of them and in this case I am sure they could have provided more if they were pushed, but the effects felting underwhelming.

Writing: 3/10

"OK did we make our protagonist sympathetic?"

"Not really."

"But it is Jackie Chan, did we at least make it seem like the system was screwing him over?"

"Not really, we gave him a stalkerish vibe and showed no ineptness by the police or the Counter terrorism people."

"Great, did we at least make it cohesive with plot-holes."

"Well we turned all 500 plot-holes into one big plot-hole."

"Perfect, sounds like we can knock off early."

Production Design: 7/10

Production design was probably the highest ranking factor in the film and good on them, but that generally should never be the case.

Costume Design 7/10

Very limited, for a good portion of the film every one is dressed in black and there happens to be a couple of issues with Jackie's outfit. Make-up/Hairstyle 7/10 Limited, though the work on Jackie was well-done, though the question of what is natural and what is not does pop up, but still decent job.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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5

thedaywalkerNov 11, 2017

It's quite disappointing how little of the actual foreigner i saw. To be honest i mainly went to this to see Jackie Chan back in action, and see how he would be in a serious movie and for the most part i actually liked it. The the movie gotIt's quite disappointing how little of the actual foreigner i saw. To be honest i mainly went to this to see Jackie Chan back in action, and see how he would be in a serious movie and for the most part i actually liked it. The the movie got TOO political and ran away from the title, where the movie is about British and northern irish politics with Jackie Chans character stuck in the middle and it was too confusing and disappointing at the end… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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4

amheretojudgeJan 16, 2018

it's the chinaman..

The Foreigner Its the cat and mouse chase that hooks you off the movie but the lead actors charm and screen presence is what pulls you back in. some tricks and dreadful actions are shown with a great conviction whichit's the chinaman..

The Foreigner

Its the cat and mouse chase that hooks you off the movie but the lead actors charm and screen presence is what pulls you back in. some tricks and dreadful actions are shown with a great conviction which keeps you rooting for it till the end even though it has a raw script.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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6

TyranianOct 12, 2019

Reasonably entertaining action-thriller with good acting but ridiculous plot.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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6

evokingsMay 31, 2018

I was sort of bored because the plot was sort of predictable, I wanted to see a Jackie Chan movie here or maybe a gritty rambo like film with Jackie Chan, but thats not what the movie is it's sort of the same flavor as the movie the NovemberI was sort of bored because the plot was sort of predictable, I wanted to see a Jackie Chan movie here or maybe a gritty rambo like film with Jackie Chan, but thats not what the movie is it's sort of the same flavor as the movie the November man which also has pierce Brosnan in it I would have better liked this movie if Brosnan joined Jackie Chan or something, because it is hard to see Brosnan play a good villain opposite Jackie Chan.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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6

KaptenVideoDec 28, 2017

A humble businessman (Jackie Chan) seeks justice when his daughter is killed in an act of terrorism. A conflict ensues with a government official (Pierce Brosnan) whose past may hold clues to the killers' identities.

What would you like toA humble businessman (Jackie Chan) seeks justice when his daughter is killed in an act of terrorism. A conflict ensues with a government official (Pierce Brosnan) whose past may hold clues to the killers' identities.

What would you like to see less: yet another spy / government / secret ops action or yet another action movie which has a geriatric leading man because they don’t want to retire just because of the old age.

Well, in this case, you get both. But „The Foreigner“ has a secret weapon – Jackie Chan. Yes, he’s 63 now but Asians age well and he can still kick it, seemingly effortlessly.

It’s not mostly just clever editing, body doubles and special effects too, Chan’s proud to be able to do the physical stuff himself, just like he has always done.

The amount of ass-kicking has dried out a bit – the first fight only occurs about 45 minutes into the near two hour movie – but you’re still gonna have fun watching Chan doing the brawl.

For variety’s sake, there’s also a hefty amount of explosions, shooting, and political intrigue, because you can’t have shady government thriller without it.

Ex-Bond Pierce Brosnan as the nemesis is not bad either although he sounds like a lecturing schoolteacher most of the time, which makes the result feel cheesier than it has to.

But this is still a Jackie Chan movie, so some cheese factor is expected, starting with the fact that most of the events wander somewhere in the nowhereland between believable and ridonculous.

Then again, the dialogue and the motivation of characters stay on the serious side, which compensates for some of leap of faith the viewer has to take to enjoy all this. This is a not often seen kind of action movie where the dialogue sounds actually pretty good too.

Much is happening, too, even considering the 114 minute length which honestly seems too long for this kind of entertainment.

There are political and personal intrigues, a bunch of secondary characters doing something or other, surprises and even a bizarre but cool Rambo style section in the woods.

Oh, and the rumors about Chan showing his acting skills here are true. Despite the importance of kicking ass, this is a rather complex role dealing with irreparable loss, regrets and getting old.

I recall that Arnold Schwarzenegger’s latest screen role could be summarized with the very same words, but his performance isn’t half this moving, and the movie („Aftermath“, 2017) kind turned out to be a stinker as well. Sorry, Ahnuld!

Ultimately, I rather enjoyed my time with Jackie Chan who does not try to conquer the West anymore and thus rarely appears in our cinemas.

„The Foreigner“ will not leave a burning and lasting impression but there’s lot to like about it, even if it would benefit from being 20 minutes shorter. There’s so much going on that some of it will feel a big half-baked retrospectively. Or maybe there's just too little of Jackie Chan for a Jackie Chan movie.

By the way, the director Martin Campbell was the first to offer us Pierce Brosnan as James Bond in 1995 („Goldeneye“), plus „Casino Royale“ which is my favorite 007 movie of all time.

He did the two Zorros with Antonio Banderas as well – not to mention 2010’s „Edge of Darkness“ which didn’t turn out to be much of a comeback for Mel Gibson after all. And then there’s „Green Lantern“, of which the less said the better…… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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