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The Foreigner (2017)
The Foreigner is an appropriate title
Finally caught this political thriller 6 years after it came out. I gave 8/10 because it felt in some places like a James Bond film (yes, I know it's the same director from Casino Royale), and I usually like those films. Good actions and good story plots in keeping the watch enjoyable. Very good acting also from the cast.
The reason I say the movie title is appropriate is because there is a main story plot which is a political thriller, that carries the whole movie just fine, and then you have a side revenge story of an immigrant that got involved, somewhat, in the process of the main story, through happenstance. The side story helps to drive the main plot along a bit, but I felt the same plot points could also have been driven by a character that's inside the political system using different means. Jackie's main focus is very different from the other characters, and there is only one of him. He happens to be a first generation immigrant, a "foreigner," not someone that would usually get involved in the Irish-struggle political process. Mind you that his character is a British citizen, not really a foreigner by definition.
I guess maybe they want to push Jackie Chan as the main attraction (why?), then yeah, The Foreigner is appropriate because he did feel like a foreign element from time to time, like "why is he involved in this story?"
For me, I was able to go past that disjoint and still enjoy most of the movie. It was a very different feel looking at Jackie in a different light being in a somber and tired mood most of the time, a very different Jackie from how I first got to know his movies. They at least wrote some back story for his character's origin, although short, but appreciated for trying to give us some connections to him.
I guess if I decide to watch it again, which is on Netflix as I write this, it would be to catch a few points I may have missed in the main story plot, though, although Jackie's side story does not detract.
Tian mai zhuan qi (2002)
Disappointment
I had a crush on Michelle Yeoh, I am still a big fan and tries to catch every film that she's in. And with high hopes going in watching this movie, I poised myself for a big let down. Even with gorgeous locations and good castings, this movie always just teetered on developing a good story but did not carry through. Actions and fights were almost actions but not quite. It just everything were "almosts." And one thing about CGs: you can't do CGs on the cheap! It looks cheesy, and any kind of "suspension of disbelief" up to that point goes right down the drain. At the end of the day, it was "almost" an action drama, almost a movie.