From Paris With Love

Posted In: The Book Of Eli

June Presser says...

The last airplane movie that I reviewed was so grottenschlecht (cave dwelling bad) that from now on everything is bright.

After Cruise's Knight and Day, this Travolta vehicle is fun and exciting (well maybe not quite that, but it is funny and not that badly made).

Whatever. Only after going as low as possible will you be able to appreciate the fun to be had from this one: Travolta is an American version of the James Bond profession, i.e. with all licenses in the world, and somewhat worse manners. His enemies are not cold warriors or wannabe world rulers, but drug dealers, flesh brokers, money launderers and terrorists. The place of action is Paris, where Travolta flies in, aquires technical assistance from a junior US embassy assistant with Bond-ambitions, starts killing thirdworlders from China and Pakistan and other terrible places in the process of catching gangsters of all denominations plus devoted Islamic suicide bombers. We find out the good young man in the duo is the target of a specially mean deception: his lovely fiancee, a cross between Keyra Knightly and Nathalie Portman, lookswise, turns out to be a bomber who targets a US/African aid summit.

If this info is a spoiler, you don't deserve better. Everybody in his right mind knows it from the first minute when the girl annoys you with her permanent giggling. A girl who giggles like that must be a suicide bomber.

Some reviews have compared this film with Liam Neeson's Taken. I differ. Taken is an ideological stinker on the level of Death Wish. In comparison, this one here is good old Bondish action entertainment. Well, somewhat downgraded for American standards of behavior.

Posted on March 30, 2011

Jae Waldrup says...

Young CIA agent James Reece who has a cushy day job but dreams of an exciting life in the field. When the agency offers him his first big-time assignment, James must team with crazed lone wolf Charlie Wax to stop a terrorist bombing plot. Although James is initially in way over his head, he soon realizes that he needs to trust Charlie if he wants to live his dream and save his own life, because the bad guys not only want to cause damage to the city, but want James killed. This movie is two hours of entertainment. It's John Travolta like you have never seen him before.The story itself is not particularly noteworthy. But there is lots of action as Travolta shows everyone who's boss in this action-packed special effects extravaganza. Also there is non-stop violence with Travolta leading the way. If you like movies with stories that feature non-stop violence, then this movie is for you.

Posted on March 30, 2011

Larita Harmon says...

FROM PARIS WITH LOVE is not without merit because it does have the gift of a great performance by John Travolta who can play Edna in HAIRSPRAY and turn around and play bad mouthed, gonna put a hole in ya' Charlie Wax in FROM PARIS WITH LOVE. It also has constant action, and if you like that sort of thing then you'll be rewarded with a movie that holds your interest.



Yet, when its over, you won't need to watch it again, because it isn't that kind of movie. You can't help but think throughout the movie, that some scenes were missing. Either that or Luc Besson scraped the typical plot of most action movies and decided to focus his screenplay on a subplot.



While the movie is about stopping terrorism, most of the movie is about the relationship between Charlie Wax (Travolta) & James Reece (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) & whether or not Reece has it in him to kill. Also, most of the movie is taken up by chasing down a drug ring. Eventually, toward the end of the movie, we discover the true reason why we're watching. A terrorist target.



The movie is 90 minutes of mayhem, bullets and Travolta putting holes in people or just finding creative ways to send people to the hereafter. If you're looking for a story, it is vague and you can't help but wander that Luc Besson intended that. Yet, because of that, it's a movie that is and will be easily forgotten.

Posted on April 1, 2011

Stephine Hingle says...

I confess right here, right now that I loved "From Paris With Love"! John Travolta is the reason why!



For the sake of simplicity, here are my reasons:

1. After the initial, necessarily slow set-up to establish back story with Jonathan Rhys Meyers' character, the action is non-stop!

2. John Travolta! He plays a commando-type sent on secret mission assignments and allowed to act without protocol! He is the reason for the action.

3. Jonathan Rhys Meyers is the spy wannabe, the complete opposite to Travolta--refined, debonair, rule follower,diplomatic assistant.

4. Weapons in cans!

5. Fighting scenes! In fact, these scenes remind me of Matt Damon's films. There's a big difference though: Matt Damon's fights are carefully choreographed with the entire fight (seemingly) shown, whereas Travolta's are shown in snippets. Why? Because John Travolta is too old and over-sized to actually fight. Note: These snippets are in my plus column. Even though he is not actually fighting, the illusion is there (for those who want to see fight scenes) that this old guy is really capable of defeating so many opponents.

6. Bad guys (drug dealers, pimps, and terrorists) are no match for Travolta's character at any time! Hero played Large! (Hero from my point of view as American, potential-victim-of-terrorism, along with delegations from all over the world)

7. The unsuspected terrorist agent!

8. Watching the diplomatic assistant gradually become spy worthy.

10. An action-oriented Big Play Hero who also plays chess!



What I didn't like about the movie:

1.



What a great summer movie, exactly one kind of summer hits: fun, engaging, entertaining, action-filled (nonstop), heroic-but-unconventional characters, violence so unbelievable that the viewer knows it is not real but pretends it is for this movie, and satisfying ending. (Oh, the other kind? Romantic and tame!)

Posted on April 2, 2011

Sachiko Keisling says...

FROM PARIS WITH LOVE is an odd title for this 93 minutes of slaughtering in the name of smoking out Terrorists.But then it is an odd movie, too, one that fans of John Travolta's screen chewing side will love.There is so little story that it doesn't need summary.Two guys - one Special OPs wannabe James Reece (Jonathan Rhys Meyers with an American accent) is assigned to partner with an infamous spy called Charlie Wax (John Travolta in top edgy comedic form) to first uncover a cocaine ring of Chinese (they accomplish this by killing everyone) and then the two jump around on buildings and stairwells and car chases and explosions to uncover planned terrorist attack from the Pakistanis - again accomplished by killing everyone.There is a bit of twist in the relationship of Reece and his beautiful girlfriend Caroline (Kasia Smutniak) that adds a bit of story to the otherwise bullet-infested goings-on, but best that be not revealed as it is the only part of the film that resembles story.



The reason this creation by writers Luc Beeson and Adi Hasak works in the hands of director Pierre Morel lies completely in the entertainment provided by Travolta - and the straight guy image of Rhys Meyers.Their banter does little to make us get into the characters, but they do provide a vaudeville-like dance with weapons peppered with some funny set-ups and dialog to make this movie entertaining.At least everyone appreciates the purpose of making the movie is not a serious one and watching it can be a fairly good evening's past time.Grady Harp, June 10

Posted on April 2, 2011

Xavier Bundage says...

I rarely buy any movies any more because very few are worth the >$21 blu-ray price.I rented "From Paris With Love" and my family and really wasn't expecting a lot.This movie ended up far exceeding my family and my expectations and I quickly purchased my own copy (from Amazon).



"From Paris With Love" is one of the best fast-paced action movies that I've seen in the last twelve months. It has a very good plot and the actors were well chosen for their roles.John Travolta stars as an on-the-edge, gung-ho government agent "Charlie Wax" whose job is to hunt down terrorists and stop their attacks.Jonathan Rhys Meyers plays "James Reece" who is an aid to the U.S. Ambassador stationed in Paris.James Reece reluctantly teams up with Charlie Wax to stop a major terrorist plot.



The blu ray picture and sound was outstanding.We have a 118 inch projector/screen and didn't notice any picture defects.The soundtrack was well balanced in that I didn't have to change volume settings between dialogue and action sequences.We haven't taken a look at the disc special features, so I can't comment on this area.



Bottom line, "From Paris With Love" is a film that action fans shouldn't miss out on!

Posted on April 4, 2011

Elda Howsare says...

A low ranking agent named James (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) gets stuck with a nutty high ranking agent named Charlie Wax (John Travolta) as his partner. There's nothing too fresh about a stiff getting stuck with a nut as his partner, yet I really liked From Paris with Love.



It's trashy and full of plot holes, yet it's a completely fun action thriller with Travolta at his best. Skip Old Dogs, wow he gets to take pills that make him have a goofy smile during a funeral. Here Travolta gets to do what he does best and that's....be cool. While Pulp Fiction fans should enjoy the fact that his character's favorite meal is...a Royale with Cheese.

Posted on April 4, 2011

Kiersten Susman says...

Without John Travolta, From Paris With Love wouldn't be worth watching. Sure he goes way over-the-top here, but unlike the bad guy he played recently in The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, he seems to be having a blast this time around. With his bald head and black goatee, his super spy character, Charlie Wax, looked the part and I had no trouble believing he could kill over 50 people and come away with not even a scratch. It also helps that he is given by far the best dialogue and manages to get a few laughs when he isn't raising the bodycount. Jonathan Rhys Meyers didn't impress me much, but I liked some of the banter between him and Travolta. The plot is all over the place and I'm still trying to figure out where everything tied in. The action scenes were average and totally unbelievable, but I knew going in that realism wasn't this film's chief concern. My advice is to wait and rent this one for Travlota alone. He at least makes it a fun mess.

Posted on April 4, 2011

Priscila Ehleiter says...

From Paris With Love was an entertaining ride, with plenty of "edge of your seat" moments, humor, and lots of action. The plot kept twisting and turning, bringing one surprise after the other, which made it really interesting. Travolta was dynamic, fun and believable as a seemingly crazy but very able operative/spy. Jonathan Rhys Meyers was excellent in the role of the newbie operative who was fairly innocent and very inexperienced, but still smart. It was a far cry from the authority and power he exudes as King Henry in the Tudors series, which means to me that he's a capable actor.



There were short periods when the movie seemed to lag a bit, though once things got going, the exciting parts more than made up for anything less than exciting. There was a lot of killing going on with plenty of blood, but despite this, none of it was very graphic or terribly disturbing. Regardless, this is not a movie I'd bring the kids to. It's definitely an adult flick for a mature audience.



I'd recommend this movie for those who enjoy action or spy thrillers. I think it would even be a DVD worth owning.

Posted on April 5, 2011

Carmelia Raheem says...

Travolta MAKES this movie work as an absolute WILD RIDE & I LOVED IT!! Too many spy thrillers and even action flicks get so hung up on "the story" nowadays that you end up missing out on most of the FUN and just going, "Huh???" in the end (e.g. the first Mission Impossible). But don't worry...Except for an anemic first 15 minutes that seemed like it would never end, this movie doesn't simply stop periodically and try and TELL a story. Instead, the convoluted - but interesting - story DEVELOPS as the movie just shifts into high-gear and keeps moving at break-neck speed with jaw-dropping action alternating with over-the-top humor! It works so well because Travolta plays an off-the-chain near super hero spy with Jonathan Rhys Meyers playing the "straight guy" who also happens to be the wannabe super spy. And become a super spy he does - on Travolta's Fast Track Plan!!



There's bodies piling up by the dozens wherever these guys go, a car chase that rivals anything you've ever seen in The Transporter series and gunfights/explosions galore. The tongue-in-cheek humor prevalent throughout the film shows that it never takes itself too seriously. For example, in one scene, Travolta tells his partner to stay a floor down while he goes up a spiral staircase after the bad guys. Every few seconds you hear a couple of muffled silencer shots and the bad guys literally start falling from the sky! Just brilliant and hilarious film-making!! Now, don't laugh too hard...But From Paris With Love reminds me quite a bit of Live Free or Die Hard. There are more than a few similarities: super hero-type playing off an inexperienced newbie; a bald Travolta and a bald Bruce Willis; both duos hunt down terrorists; special effects that look both real and unreal at the same time. But unlike Willis and his ever-present bloody shirt, Travolta's character never gets a scratch. I'm also impressed that he did so many of the stunts in this flick and didn't end up in the hospital! He moves around pretty well for a guy his age...



There's a Special Feature on the DVD where former real spies claim there really are Special Ops guys like Travolta's character in the real world! Too bad there isn't a reality show that follows them around...In fact, this is EXACTLY the kind of movie I wish someone would turn into a weekly TV series! I'd watch it every week...

Posted on April 7, 2011