The Foreigner Movie Review

Article by Gabe Zia

Lazy Film Critic Movie Reviews
The Foreigner

Hey guys, I've been on something of a hiatus for the past month and a half, it's sort of a combination of a few things, but the important thing is that I'm back and I'm going to try doing more full reviews from now on, starting with the Jackie Chan action film "The Foreigner" which I saw a full month ago and just never got down to reviewing. Of the movies from last month, this is one of the more divisive, if you asked a group half would probably say they loved it, and the other half would likely say it was boring. For me, I was pleasantly surprised by this movie even with all its flaws.

First off, have to address, one of the reasons I was excited for this movie - if not really the only reason - was the prospect of a Jackie Chan action film. Growing up I loved Jackie Chan movies, I think it's fair to say that goes for most of my generation, so I was really excited just to see Jackie Chan being as great as always. And as great as he was,who surprised me here the most was Pierce Brosnan, he brought a like of likability and intrigue to this movie and to his role. And what's great here is that this movie works on both their strengths, Jackie Chans strengths are action sequences and scenes where the focus is on him, Pierce Brosnans strengths are with a group of actors, playing off their dialogue and characteristics with his own. This movie plays to these, having most of Jackie Chans scenes be singularly focused on him while Brosnans scenes are often among a group, and it works really well.

Something important to know going into this movie is that, like a lot of movies this year, the trailers are kind of lying. I know a lot of people who went into this movie expecting a high octane John Wick style action film, and the truth is that's just not what this movie has to offer. It does have action sequences, and they're all pretty great, but it doesn't take up much of the movie. Really when you get down to it The Foreigner is more about spies and espionage than about guns and martial arts. Now this is only a bad thing if the espionage doesn't work, and personally I think they did a good job here. It's never too complicated to make sense nor is it to simple to make me lose interest. It's just teetering on the right spot there, just enough complexity to keep me invested but not so much that I lose track of what's going on in the plot.

Final Rating
The Foreigner, while not very original or unique in any sense, is more than a serviceable espionage movie with some fantastic action sequences. While I can't say this is a must-see, it definitely gets my recommendation. Waiting for this movie to have its home release then watching it with a group is probably the best way to watch this movie.