THE FOREIGNER

Directing: B
Acting: B
Writing: B
Cinematography: B+
Editing: B+

There's a shot that opens The Foreigner that immediately makes the film feel like something with potential, a birds-eye view of students exiting a school building that's so well composed, you think this movie might be more than just a suspense procedural, maybe something a little artful.

Well, that's also where that potential pretty much ends. The cinematography remains solid throughout, but it doesn't take long for the unfolding of the story here to prove it's by the numbers. A lot of this is in the details, only noticeable if you find yourself looking for it. This, I suppose, is the double-edged sword of seeing movies far more frequently than most: "movie magic" has to make far more of an effort to woo critics than it does regular audiences. The swiftness with which computer forensics zeroes in on the details of things like video surveillance of a vehicle license plate -- none of that is ever realistic, but if it were, these movies would be very dull.

The Foreigner is hardly perfect, but neither is it at all dull. Anyone going to a movie like this will get all they're asking from it -- and possibly more, in fact. The plot is a little more complicated than just Quan Minh (Jackie Chan, in an unusually dramatic tole) seeking revenge on the terrorist bombers who kill his daughter in the film's opening sequence.

A whole lot of the movie involves Minh doing a bit of terrorizing of his own, aimed at Irish deputy minister Liam Hennesy (Pierce Brosnan, never better and giving easily the best performance here) in an effort simply to get the names of the bombers. Minh never kills anyone, just uses his extensive background of special forces training to scare the shit out of Hennesy and his staff and bodyguards with nonlethal explosions and traps, going so far as to follow him to his secluded farmhouse and hide out in the nearby woods.

There is an intriguing backstory to all this, involving the IRA and a new faction behind the terrorist bombings calling themselves "The Authentic IRA." This taps into some real-world politics in the UK, and it bears noting that American audiences are perhaps more likely to swallow any historical details here without question -- that part all seems realistic enough to me, but who knows how British audiences will perceive it.

In any case, Quan Minh finds himself inserted into the midst of some very messy and violent political activism just by virtue of his daughter being collateral damage. The unfolding of this plot offers much more food for thought than movies of this sort tend to have, and that is to its credit.

In the end, though, The Foreigner is just a straightforward revenge flick, with a martial arts legend proving he's still got the goods at age 63. Chan has long been famous for doing his own stunts and he's not letting up here, which makes a lot of the fight sequences a joy to watch. They do take a while to get to, because the story comes first, which is refreshing in the midst of today's endlessly brainless blockbusters.

Here is a movie with much going for it, and also a lot of unrealized potential. Chan himself is great as an action star, and serviceable as an actor. Engrossing though the story may be, ultimately this is still a genre flick, and one that will please those with interest, and leave everyone else assured they aren't missing anything vital.

Jackie Chan and Pierce Brosnan find themselves with shady connections.

Overall: B