Pun Salad

Nearly ten years ago, I suggested that the Oscars establish a new award category: "Best Performance for Doing That Kind of Thing That Jackie Chan Does". Sadly, they have not taken my advice yet. If they had, Jackie Chan would definitely win for his performance here.

Just as an aside, Jackie Chan is a passionate defender of the Chinese Communist dictatorship. I find this both sad and disgusting. In fact, I think this uncontested fact is worse than some of the current accusations about sexual harrassment that are getting movie people blacklisted these days.

But should this affect my movie-watching? I don't know. It hasn't as yet.

Anyway, on to the flick: Jackie plays Ngoc Minh Quan, an ethnically Chinese restaurant owner in London, very protective of his only surviving family member, a teenage daughter. Not protective enough, however, because while getting a dress for the big dance, she gets seriously blown up by a terrorist bomb aimed at a neighboring bank. A faction of the IRA takes credit.

Quan is heartbroken, and (then) increasingly impatient with the pace of the investigation. Frustrated, he decides to confront an Irish politician, once a terrorist himself: Liam Hennessy, played by Pierce Brosnan. (Who actually is Irish, so I imagine the accent he puts on here comes naturally.) Hennessey denies any knowledge of the bombing, and tells Quan he can't help him.

But (it turns out) Quan has what Liam Neeson memorably called "a very particular set of skills". Including knowledge of explosives, weaponry, and (of course) ass-kicking. Also head-kicking, groin-kicking, abdomen-kicking,… Pretty soon, Hennessy finds himself playing Quan's game against his will.

It's an impressively complex plot, with lots of betrayal, revelations, and surprising twists. And a lot of brilliantly-choreographed Jackie Chan-style violence.

If I was Irish, though, I'd be pretty pissed. The bomb (it turns out) was set by a guy named "Patrick O'Reilly". The actual terrorist incidents in England last year were carried out by guys named Ahmed Hassan, Salman Abedi, Khalid Masood, Khuram Shazad Butt, Rachid Redouane, Youssef Zaghba, ….