The Foreigner was released in China on 30 September 2017 by Wuzhou Film Distribution, in the United States on 13 October 2017 by STX Entertainment, and in the United Kingdom on 15 December 2017 on Netflix. It received generally favourable reviews from critics with praise for its action sequences, musical score, and against type performances of Chan and Brosnan, but criticized its formulaic plot.[3] The film grossed $145 million at the worldwide box office and was one of 2018's top ten most-watched Netflix original films in the UK.
Plot
Former Vietnam Warspecial operations forces soldier Ngoc Minh Quan runs a Chinese restaurant in London. His only daughter, Fan, is killed in a terrorist bombing for which Irish republican group the "Authentic IRA" claims responsibility. Quan visits the Scotland Yard daily, and when told by Commander Bromley he is hindering the investigation, Quan travels to Belfast.
Quan visits Northern Ireland deputy First Minister and Sinn Féin politician Liam Hennessy, a former Provisional IRA leader who claims to have renounced violence. Quan tries to demand the names, but Hennessy denies any knowledge, so Quan sets off a homemade bomb in Hennessy's building and leaves a fake explosive on Hennessy's car as warnings. Hennessy tells his men to stop Quan and orders IRA weapons dumps be searched for missing Semtex. Hennessy's men find Quan but he fights them off and escapes. Quan photographs Hennessy kissing his mistress Maggie in a restaurant.
Quan tries to interrogate one of Hennessy's henchmen but is shot and flees. He recalls escaping Vietnam when his first two daughters were raped and killed by Thai pirates. Hennessy enlists his nephew Sean Morrison from New York, a former Royal Irish Regiment soldier, to stop Quan. Morrison negotiates with Bromley that each IRA cell will change their code words; Bromley agrees on the condition that the police will take them down, not Morrison and his uncle.
Hennessy's old IRA commander Hugh McGrath denies knowledge of any missing Semtex and tells Hennessy the attacks should continue. Hennessy reveals that he ordered bombings of financial institutions but for civilians to be spared. McGrath accuses Hennessy of caring more about his political position within the British government than the IRA cause. Hennessy demands that McGrath call off the bombers, threatening to kill him and them otherwise.
A bombing without a code word prompts distrust between Bromley and Hennessy. British cabinet minister Katherine Davies tells Hennessy that the royal pardons that he sought for his IRA ex-comrades will only be considered if he hands over the bombers, otherwise British soldiers will re-occupy Northern Ireland within two days. Hennessy learns that Morrison unintentionally leaked information during an adulterous dalliance. Bromley discovers that McGrath is the leader of the Authentic IRA and notifies Hennessy. Hennessy tortures McGrath into identifying the bombers, which include Maggie. The affair was planned to gain leverage over Hennessy to support violence. Hennessy discovers his own wife, Mary, is behind the attacks. She resents her brother’s assassination by the Ulster Volunteer Force, and hates her husband for allowing them to be imprisoned instead of ordering their deaths. Hennessy executes McGrath and shares the information with Morrison.
After a knife fight at Quan's hideout in the forest, Morrison gives Quan the names of the terrorists and their location before Quan lets him go. Hennessy tells Morrison to bury McGrath, and that after one last task, Morrison must return to New York.
Quan enters the bombers' London hideout and kills everyone but Maggie. He leaves just before the police and MI5 storm the flat. They torture Maggie into disclosing the location of their next bomb, which is planted in a reporter's laptop to be detonated on a plane carrying British dignitaries to a conference. British police detonate the laptop without casualties, and Maggie is executed to tie up loose ends. Davies, who was scheduled to be on the targeted flight, calls Hennessy to tell him she knows of his involvement, but having helped prevent the attack he can remain as deputy First Minister, albeit under her control. She confirms that pardons for five IRA fugitives have been granted. Morrison shoots Mary, eliminating the last of the Authentic IRA cell and any link to Hennessy.
Hennessy is confronted at his hotel by Quan with the picture of him kissing Maggie. Quan forces Hennessy to post the photo on the Internet, publicising his links to the Authentic IRA and ensuring the end of his political career. Quan returns to the restaurant.
Realising Quan's role, Scotland Yard puts him under surveillance on the basis that he might think they owe him something. Bromley decides to take no further action against Quan and keeps him under surveillance for the time being.
On 5 June 2015 it was announced that Jackie Chan would star in the action thriller film The Foreigner,[4] for STX Entertainment, and based on Stephen Leather's novel The Chinaman.[5]Nick Cassavetes initially signed to direct the film, which was adapted from Leather's novel by David Marconi, while Wayne Marc Godfrey was one of the producers.[6] The film is partially set in Walworth, London.[5] On 15 July 2015, Deadline reported that Martin Campbell was instead in talks to direct the film, while Relativity Media would finance.[6] Campbell was paid $2 million for the film.[7]Pierce Brosnan joined the cast alongside Chan in November. Brosnan previously starred in the 1995 film GoldenEye directed by Campbell.[8] Co-stars Liu Tao and Chan attended the Shanghai Film Festival on 11 June 2016 to promote the film.[9]
Principal photography commenced in January 2016. The filming in London of a scene involving the explosion of a bus on Lambeth Bridge caused some alarm, as people were not aware that it was a stunt.[10] Scenes were shot at the Walters & Cohen designed Regent High School in Camden and on Churton Street in Pimlico on 18 February 2016.[citation needed]
The Foreigner grossed $34.4 million in the United States and Canada, and $111 million in other countries for a worldwide total of $145.4 million, against a production budget of $35 million.[2]
In the United States and Canada, the film opened alongside Happy Death Day, Marshall and Professor Marston and the Wonder Women, and was expected to gross $10–15 million from 2,555 theaters in its opening weekend.[14] It made $4.8 million on its first day, including $855,000 from Thursday night previews. It went on to open to $15.5 million, finishing third at the box office behind Happy Death Day and Blade Runner 2049.[15]
Home media
In the United Kingdom, the film was released on 15 December 2017 on Netflix.[16] It became one of the UK's top ten most-watched Netflix original films of 2018, with a 0.37% share of the total Netflix content consumed in the UK that year.[17]
The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray in the United States on 9 January 2018 and in Canada and the rest of the world on 23 January.
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 66% based on 127 reviews, with an average rating of 6/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "The Foreigner adheres strictly to action thriller formula, but benefits from committed—and out of character—performances from its talented veteran stars."[18] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 55 out of 100, based on 23 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[19] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported 78% of filmgoers gave it positive score.[15]
The film was viewed positively by most critics. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film three out of four stars and praised Chan's performance, saying: "It's the most dramatic role Chan has ever tackled, and he plays it with coiled intensity and raw emotional power."[20] Clarence Tsui of The Hollywood Reporter also praised Chan, writing, "It's good to see Chan swapping his happy-go-lucky persona for two hours for some gravitas as a tragic rogue with a marked past."[21] John Berra of Screen Daily praised the action sequences, Cliff Martinez's score and the direction, stating "Campbell's unfussy style works well with Chan’s choreography. The star’s willingness to look his 63 years makes the falls look like they really hurt and creates a sense of jeopardy when Quan finds himself outnumbered." He also observed that the film "never commits the cinematic sin of suggesting that terrorism is a threat than can be readily dispatched with a few one-liners."[22] Ignatiy Vishnevetsky for The A.V. Club described the film as "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."[23] The Chicago Reader also commended the performances of Chan and Brosnan and called The Foreigner a "twisty, bracing political thriller, giving Chan room to display his dramatic ability."[24] The Times of India gave a positive review of Campbell's direction and the film's suspense, stating that it can keep viewers "engrossed."[25]
In more mixed reviews, Peter Debruge of Variety wrote "The Foreigner amounts to an above-average but largely by-the-numbers action movie in which Chan does battle with generic thugs and shadowy political forces."[8] Glenn Kenny writing in The New York Times stated Chan "doesn’t deliver the action pizazz here that he used to," criticised the plot as "convoluted" and felt that the use of the IRA as antagonists was outdated in relation to current events.[26]
Potential sequel
In January 2016, The New Yorker quoted Jackie Chan in-conversation with then-STX chairman Adam Fogelson as having suggested that a female character in The Foreigner who had been killed off in the script had been kept alive so-as to "save her for No. 2. Now the IRA goes after her—and that's the story." On said meeting with Chan and the concept of The Foreigner No. 2 sequel, Fogelson then remarked, “A few years ago, thinking about the sequel that way would be characterized as a lazy, greedy bastardization of the creative process. If you said that now, you'd be telling the entire world that they're wrong. Sequels have become a duty—a form of storytelling that, thanks to great television, audiences have grown accustomed to. You can aspire to create six two-hour movies that develop your concept across multiple resolutions—which makes movies easier to sell, and creates a more predictable business model. Half the films we'll say yes to will have sequelable potential."[27]
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