SYNOPSIS:
A
personal aide to the U.S. Ambassador in France, James Reese
(Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) has an enviable life in Paris and a
beautiful French girlfriend, but his real passion is his side
job as a low-level operative for the CIA. All James wants
is to become a bona fide agent and see some real action. So
when he's offered his first senior-level assignment, he can't
believe his good luck - until he meets his new partner, special
agent Charlie Wax (John Travolta).
A
trigger-happy, wisecracking, loose cannon who's been sent
to Paris to stop a terrorist attack, Wax leads James on a
white-knuckle shooting spree through the Parisian underworld
that has James praying for his desk job. But when James discovers
he's a target of the same crime ring they're trying to bust,
he realizes there's no turning back...and that Wax himself
might be his only hope for making it through the next forty-eight
hours alive.
MOVIE REVIEW:
"From
Paris With Love" comes from the makers of the "Transporter"
series, Jet Li’s "Kiss of the Dragon" and
last year’s sleeper hit, "Taken" so if you
are looking for continuous scenes of dialogues, in-depth exposition
and logic, then this movie definitely will not be your cup
of tea.
Jonathan Rhys-Meyers (The Tudors) plays James
Reece whose day job is being the PA to the U.S. Ambassador
in France. But Reece’s real desire is to be an operative
field agent. Thus when he is offer the chance to work with
an American agent, Charlie Wax (John Travolta) on a case,
he jumps at it without knowing what kind of perils he is heading
for.
The
buddy-cop genre has been done to death over the years and
with no exception, "From Paris With Love" rides
on the same formula which audience are so accustomed with.
Perhaps the only refreshing change is Travolta as the botak
(bald), over-the-top, goatee spotting Charlie Wax who refuses
to comply with the rules. He is crude, ruthless and amazingly
agile as compared to Reece, the prim-and-proper, by-the-book
rookie who is simultaneously experiencing a culture shock
and a life-threatening act which plays closer to his heart
than anything else. Obviously in the end, it’s Travolta
who dominate the screen with ease.
Instead of complimenting Luc Besson’s
story, I would say the renowned film-maker who has chalked
up lots of producing and writing credits on his Europa label
is a marvelous writing machine (on auto-mode) that has the
capability to churn out entertaining high-octane action flicks
without as much as batting an eyelid. I wouldn’t go
as far as to spoil it for you but the revelation in this crime
flick is just a swift passing statement on the current political
climate, almost forgettable the instant the credits run. The
plotting serves mainly as a mechanism to get the actions going
and never for a minute, pretending to be an intellectual,
Bourne-inspired action piece.
Director
Pierre Morel who has been working closely with Besson throughout
his career managed to stand on his own with "Taken"
and "From Paris With Love" cement the fact that
this prodigy of Besson is ready to venture on his own. The
excellent choreographed shoot-out and car chases (courtesy
of famed French stunt team, Michel Julienne) is loud and bad-ass.
Check out the sparring and shoot-outs at the Chinese restaurant
and spiral staircase for reference. When it comes to action,
the French certainly fares a notch above Hollywood.
With
a high body count, a scenic Paris as the background, Travolta
hamming it up and Morel at the helm, "From Paris With
Love" is the best example of a hardcore, adrenalin-pumping
action flick done right to please the crowd. Forget the red
bull and just play this DVD.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
The Making Of covers footages from
behind-the-scenes including how the stunts are done and interviews
with the leading cast members and director Pierre Morel.
Interviews
with Lead Casts: John Travolta, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Kasia
Smutniak, Director Pierre Morel and Producer Virgine Silla
– Every segment last almost 14 minutes each and there’s
nothing particularly interesting consider everyone has the
usual nice stuff to say of each other. The camera-shy Luc
Besson is sadly missing from all featurettes.
The
DVD is round up with the Trailer and Music
Video.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Lacking a surround track, it’s a pity
the DVD only comes with Dolby Digital 2.0 which fails at times
to boast up the mayhem that is happening onscreen though the
DVD transfer is respectably done. Picture comes in bright
and vibrant without any noticeable artifacts.
MOVIE RATING:
 
DVD
RATING:
Review by Linus Tee
Posted on 19 July 2010
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