Jonathan Rhys Meyers and John Travolta star in “From Paris with Love,” a movie about secret agents who are lousy at keeping secrets. Add a lot of violence and a lack of comprehension of the word “discreet” and you have the main idea of this movie. The movie is confused as to who the villains are. In a space of two hours they go from chasing Chinese drug lords to finding Pakistani terrorists. The movie was based on a story by the generally talented author Luc Besson, but the transition from drugs to terrorists was horrible. Travolta’s character, Charlie Wax, tells Meyer’s character, James Reese, about it while Reese was on drugs, so all we hear is the word “terrorists” and everything else is tuned out. Nothing else is known about this terrorist group except that they are planning to do something in Paris that day.
In creative writing classes students are taught to show what you mean, not tell it. This movie tells you everything. Half of this movie is Wax and Reese in a car discussing what they are doing. The rest is either Wax killing various henchmen or Reese trying to figure out what he is doing with Wax.
Travolta has always been a hammy actor and it really suits him for this role. When he first appears, he is the stereotypical loud American. He is foul-mouthed and insulting but smart and violent. He believes in making a big impression, like shooting down a ceiling with a machine gun. Travolta looks the part of an insane action hero as well, sporting a shaved head, goatee and pierced ear. His over-the-top acting and violent behavior made him very entertaining.
In comparison, Meyer’s character was bland. He wanted to be a secret agent, but the one important job he did by himself was botched. He was known as a logical thinker, yet was also very stiff and righteous. Only towards the end did he actually become a likable character.
The way this movie was shot at times was annoying. Most of the fight scenes were great, none of it was too exaggerated and every movement was efficient and necessary. However, once or twice in the movie a scene dragged on until it bordered on ridiculous. One of those scenes involved someone falling for almost a minute and a half in slow motion, and seen from different angles. It wasn’t necessary and destroyed the mood that the director was aiming for.
If you are looking for a mindless action movie, this is it. The action scenes are good and you don’t need to know what is going on. The movie has a lot of good laughs in it as well. The Chinese vase that Reese holds is a great source of amusement and makes you think twice about who you share crowded elevators with. The movie wasn’t bad, just shallow.