Very well executed

one of my absolute favorites!

good back-story, and good acting

Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

Let's be honest, what brought my attention to this movie was a modern-day Jackie Chan thriller. The off-brand R-rating really intrigued me, as Chan is generally more family-oriented. This movie exceeded expectations by a mile. The cinematography of the action scenes are amazing, and Pierce Brosnan is fantastic as the supporting role. A real breath of fresh air for fans of of Chan's career; a gripping political drama where the protagonist fights dirty.

Jackie Chan plays Quan a man whose daughter is killed in a terrorist bombing. He wants answers to the people responsible but no one will give him anything. So he decides to take the law into his own hands. Pierce Brosnan plays ex-IRA leader who bears a striking resemblance to Gerry Adams. Brosnan is really good in the film stealing every scene he's in complete with a thick Irish accent. Jackie Chan gives a grounded emotional performance and of course handles the action scenes very well. Even for a man in his 60s he's more than capable of performing risky stunts making the film look believable. Directed by Martin Campbell (Casino Royale, Golden Eye) he gets great performances out of all of his actors and makes the film look great even with such a small budget. It has its feet firmly stuck in reality dealing with such a timely subject matter. There is lot of intrigue to it and not everything is what it seems. It's less of an action thriller and more of a drama/mystery thriller with some impressive action sequences that don't look overly fantastic. There is no slow motion and no perfect choreography. They look realistic and nobody walks away unscathed as there is a lot of bruises and wounds. It does suffer from some pacing issues and the tone is often inconsistent. But it's just a great film full of surprises.

This movie is a typical movie in a lot of ways. Guy loses family and wants revenge, has military background. But the fact that it's Jackie Chan makes it unique because it's less about his chaotic action and more about making traps, and being dramatic. There is some good political story between the Brits and Ireland as well. Pretty much what I expected, though it felt like Jackie was only in half the movie.

As an action movie, this film is excellent. But more to the point, it starkly shows up the tragedy that inevitably ensues when people nurture hatred. In the film, it is the IRA, but it could easily be applied to other places where they are still fighting wars going back as many as 500 years or more.