Luc Besson doesnt seem to direct many movies anymore, instead spending much of his time coming up with silly, over the top stories for the likes of District 13, Transporter, Unleashed and now From Paris With Love. Theyre the sort of tales its difficult to imagine him directing himself, and indeed this one was handed off to Pierre Morel, who scored a big hit last year with Taken, and to be honest, probably wouldnt have made this if hed had more options at the time.
Jonathan Rhys Meyers plays James Reece, the personal assistant to the US ambassador in Paris, whos also on the lower echelons of becoming a secret agent. Hes just got engaged when he gets an assignment to drive around Charlie Wax (John Travolta), a spy whos not afraid to mouth off in a xenophobic manner, shoot everything that moves and generally cause mayhem. Initially it seems their job is to take down a drug ring, but as the body count rises, it becomes clear theyre really after a terrorist cell.
Travolta seems to be having a whale of a time, embracing his inner baldy, making Pulp Fiction jokes and generally causing chaos. Rhys Meyers also seem to be enjoying himself, but to be honest the movie itself doesnt quite live up to their enthusiasm for it. The film seems unsure whether it wants to be a tense thriller or in the same mould as Transporter, which was immensely fun, but largely because of the action rather than anything else.
While From Paris With Love is never dreadful, the action is passable but rarely thrilling (never getting close to what Morel achieved in District 13), while the plot itself ranges from the confusing to the too dumb to mention. Indeed the film seems to change about halfway through. The first part is rather tongue in cheek, revelling in barely explained violence, with Travolta running round like John McClane on crack and Rhys Meyers spending the entire time inexplicably carrying around a large vase full of coke. However the second half gets more serious, although due to the silliness thats gone before, it never really captures the import of whats going on. The film needs the first half because its morality borders on the reprehensible, presenting America as a country that should be allowed to shoot whoever it likes anywhere in the world, just because they may possibly be involved with something. It would seem abhorrent if it werent so silly, but it means any attempts at emotional depth later on falls flat.
Its all okay and theres certainly a lot of shooting and bodies that pile up, but at the end its difficult not to have the sensation that there was a lot of flash and bang that didnt add up to an awful lot. However if youre feeling undemanding, itll fill the time.
And if you do fancy it, the Blu-ray is the way to go. The picture quality is just about perfect, with absolute clarity on close-ups and a beautifully graded colour palette, which shows off the almost Asian cinema feel of the lighting. Likewise the audio is fab, offering an absolutely excellent sound mix, which will have you looking around uncertain where a particular noise is coming from (I was convinced a car alarm in the movie was coming from outside my house at one point, thats how good the audio is).
On the features front, there are some interviews, each going relatively in-depth with the likes of Pierre Morel and John Travolta about the movie. Theres also a fairly interesting half-hour making of… documentary, which talks about Bessons involvement in the development of the movie (which seems fairly extensive) as well as the actual creation of From Paris With Love. Its all pretty good, even if the film is a bit something and nothing.
Overall Verdict: Its okay for 90 minutes, with plenty of bullets flying and Travolta having a whale of a time, but in the end From Paris With Love adds up to very little.
Special Features:
Making Of… Featurette
Pierre Morel Interview
John Travolta Interview
Michelle Julienne Interview
Are You With Me Vaux Music Video
Reviewer: Tim Isaac