Nextflix Reviews - The Foreigner

Want to know what to 'watch next' on Netflix? Check out my Nextflix Reviews

Jackie Chan has been entertaining me for decades and he's never failed to deliver the action that's for sure. I was 9 when Drunken Master came out in 1978 and I remember watching that and play kung-fuing around the house with my mates afterwards. I gotta say he is looking old now but he ain't lost it. This feels a hell of a lot grittier and real than his normally over the top outings for sure. His age adds real pathos to his acting too, you can feel his sadness at the loss of his last remaining family member and he feels believable as a devastated, quiet man seeking vengeance and the truth about the killers. He's a man with a tragic past but also a violent one with training that he hasn't forgotten. 

The Chan half of the action is just the tip of the iceberg really with the real story being multi-layered political intrigue. There is all kinds of secret phone calls and wranglings and machinations within the IRA and British government that keep the story deep and interesting. The man he has targeted to get the truth from Politician Liam Hennessey (Pierce Brosnan) seemingly doesn't actually know who did it and is himself trying to find out. Brosnan is great, his character is an ex-IRA man, now a politician dedicated to maintaining the peace accord and he wants to find the rogue cell who are breaking the peace and 'deal' with them. So Chan in his desperation seems to be attacking the wrong guy and in all honesty hindering Brosnan's chances to find the truth. There are levels within levels though and things are not simply black and white by any stretch of the imagination and there are lies and tricks and schemes interweaving with each other. 

This is a great movie, it has action it has a great story and superb acting and it's free to watch on Netflix, so get on it. And check out all Jackie's other movies too cos they are bloody great :)
Ooooooh and I just found out the director was Martin Campbell who did the 'flop' (that should never have been a flop cos it's a great movie), Green Lantern. Awesome!!

*******************************************************************