clark & chloe — "The Foreigner" Review: Jackie Deserves Better

By The Entertainment Editorial Team

First and foremost, I have to let you know that I'm a big Jackie Chan fan.

He's one of the icons of the martial arts genre but more than that, he's actually a great (and underrated) actor. So when I saw the first trailer for 'The Foreigner', my first thought (outside of what a terrible name that is for a movie starring a Chinese actor) was that it was finally a drama that may really allow Western audiences to see him in a role that fits his talent as an actor. But, as we've all come to know, trailers... can be deceiving.

'The Foreigner' is based off of a 1992 book titled, 'The Chinaman' (more on THAT later... but basically, smh). It centers around Ngoc Minh Quan, a quiet, loving father in his 60s (played by Jackie Chan) who goes in search of the perpetrators behind a bombing in London that kills his daughter and won't let anyone get in his way. At least, that's what the trailer wants you to think this movie is about.

The movie starts with lots of great build up with the introduction of Jackie's character, Quan, and setting up the inciting incident that starts his character off on his journey of justice but then throws you into Liam's world. You sit there expecting the story to shift back to Quan but come to the realization that it never really does... well, until they need some quick action to try and make the film somewhat exciting again. The whole bombing in the film was not meant to set up Quan's story - it was used to set up the story about Liam and the IRA! It's a huge bait and switch! You sit there expecting a Jackie Chan movie but instead get a muddled mess of a film that, at times, features Jackie Chan! You're stuck with this boring movie with bad dialogue and the only good parts being Quan coming in and kicking some IRA ass. (And not tto mention, the amount of times they had the other characters say "Chinaman", I was about to jump into the film and do a little ass-kicking myself cause come on... IT'S 2017!!).

My favorite part (spoiler alert) was seeing Jackie Chan pistol-whip Pierce Brosnan. I was like, "Jackie Chan just made James Bond his b*tch!). And that's the frustrating thing, the most interesting parts of the film all featured Quan as the focal point, and those are the parts that are the fewest and furthest between! The filmmakers don't develop his character, his arc, his journey - they barely let him speak! They turned the only character we as the audience really rooted for and made him a side character in his own movie. We all know the best part of a Jackie Chan film is Jackie Chan. However, this movie was never really going to be about Quan or the journey of a man seeking justice for his daughter because heaven forbid people may actually be okay with/ want to see a fully fleshed out main character that happens to be of Asian descent. No, it was just the filmmakers' deciding to make another movie about white people but using China's money to do so (you'll see in the introduction all of the various Chinese production companies who co-financed this film). And if they used China's money, it has to at least feature a Chinese actor and pull people in to see it. And what Chinese actor has more global appeal than the one and only, Jackie Chan? And THAT is the most frustrating thing... I hate when films have the opportunity to actually be good and some "genius" that has a say in the movie goes back to the same tired tropes because they think it will sell. This had the potential to be good.. really good, and they made it bad, really bad.

Like the theme of the movie, it was all a set up, and we were the fools to fall for it. Here at CLARK & CHLOE, we give 'The Foreigner' a 2 out of 5.

And those 2 are just for you, Jackie. You deserve better.