The Foreigner

The Foreigner could've used less of Brosnan's bombast, frankly, and more of the mysterious Mr. Quan, but this dark-edged little razor blade of a film is ultimately a satisfying comeback for Chan. More, please.

The scene in which Chan beats up David Pearse and Michael McElhatton through three floors of a Belfast B&B in itself justifies your attention.

Martin Campbell directed this twisty, bracing political thriller, giving Chan room to display his dramatic ability and letting Brosnan flesh out a vigorous, complex character who's surrounded by frenemies with secrets of their own.

Chan is perfectly fine as a man who feels he has nothing to lose, but his hollowed-out gaze and Death Wish-style crusade can't compensate for how numbingly thin this all is, stringing together just enough plot to justify the eruptions of violence.

The Foreigner is a good, lean cut of meat-in other words, a typical Martin Campbell movie, expeditious and cold-blooded in its cross-cut, cloak-and-dagger plotting and violence.

I'm not sure anyone has plans to turn this into a franchise, but I certainly want to see more from this Chan-aissance.

It is a superb film for Jackie Chan, who really needs to flex his dramatic muscles more often.

Jackie Chan puts in his finest performance to date in this bracing political thriller that gave him the chance to prove both his acting and karate chops.

Not a memorable movie but it is a welcome return to the action genre for Chan and Brosnan after too long a time away.

"The Foreigner" doesn't blow the doors off the revenge-action model, but it does become one of the best recent old-guy-is-a-secret-badass movies.