This is one of the very rare times that chan and brosnan portrays a very dark persona, enough to scare the wits out of you and say: "jackie chan and pierce brosnan, really?".
This proves that even goody two shoes characters can expertly portray complex and dark ones as well. And if we as viewers see their portrayal and admire them in utter disbelief, that is evidence that they are that good.
They can now be compared to actors by the likes of bruce willisand meryll streep.