From Paris With Love (2010)

From Paris With Love (2010)

Sorry reader Tim, I don't think this was the Paris movie you recommended. Instead we have a new installment in what could essentially be a genre unto itself, the buddy-cop flick. Or in this case, the buddy spy flick. Though really, there is very little spying. As with most action films a certain level of suspension of disbelief is required for any enjoyment to be had. It gets increasingly difficult when some films abandon any semblance of realism in favour of sensationalism.

The film stars Jonathon Rhys Meyers (who I suppose is from the Tudors but I always think he looks like Jesus from True Blood) and John Travolta (here channeling every ego-maniacal character he has ever played all with the fashion sense of Steven Segal...  No really, he spends the entire movie bundled up like Paris is minus 50 degrees, for which I can only presume is because he didn't take the workout regime the studios offered prior to filming.) The plot centers around Jonathon's character who is apparently an aide to some U.S. diplomat/spy wannabe. He's looking to get his feet wet in "Black Ops" but instead he is tasked with playing chaperone to BADASS John. Capitalized because everything he does is BADASS!!! with three exclamation marks. So begins the whirlwind adventure that really could be set in any generic city aside from the random reminders that some folks are speaking French. Apparently this is from genius Luc Besson (The Fifth Element) but I prefer that it is only loosely connected to him, like someone got him drunk at a bar and asked him to tell them the most ridiculous spy story ever and then proceeded to jot the details down on a napkin.

Oh well, I suppose they all can't be hit out of the park. The problem I have is that there is really no semblance of reality in any of the film, while Jon and John proceed to travel around Paris blowing and shooting it up with reckless abandon, you get no sense of consequence. I mean isolated jungles, an evil villain's lair, or shady business mega-corps are one thing, but this film literally has random explosions and gunfire in multiple civilian locales and yet not one single sign of how quickly that kind of stuff would be shut down. John Travolta doesn't just have a license to kill, he has a license to commit genocide it seems if what we witness is supposed to be remotely feasible.

People often knock the Die Hard franchise as improbable action movie scenarios, but you know what Die Hard does that this film doesn't even care about? Establish linear plot development to explain how the situations occur and why or how the incidents on film are to transpire. Why aren't the cops raiding the tower? Well we saw the terrorists take care of that in the beginning. Here we bear witness to countless visible minority deaths with very little connection between them save for the drugs, no personal vendetta, no drugs again, no terrorism plot. Do we care about Jon and John? No, because since John is wearing Segal's outfit (no we are totally convinced you are rocking the six-pack under that parka) we know he is all but invincible. Long story short, crap happens, people die, John and Jon crack wise despite how inappropriate it may be given THEIR OWN CIRCUMSTANCES they set up. Oh well. I have already wasted more thought on this than the entire developmental team in the film's creation process.

The good: Jon Rhys Meyers was surprisingly not as irritable as I thought he would be. I watched one episode of the Tudors and couldn't care to watch it again. Here I could actually see him have potential if given the right vehicle to show his chops. Oh the one progressive element was the whole female proposing to a guy. Don't see that much on film aside from romantic comedies.

The bad: Everything else. I didn't hate John Travolta and even wanted to like his character but he is still a little too one dimensional in his BADASS routine that he's ultimately unable to be related to or inspiring (ala James Bond or Jason Bourne). The plot was atrocious and not necessarily hard to follow, more so just irritating to follow. The ending... well it was intended to be dramatic but it came across as the stupidest contrived plot device seen in a long time. It almost would have been better if Jon woke up and it was all a dream. Oh and don't forget the subtle insinuation that love is wasted emotion. I all but expected John to utter "Bros before Hos" during the climax of the film.

Final Thoughts: If you are desperate for an action movie, or you really could care less about plot, then by means.... this is the film for you. I'd sooner go rewatch the Bourne series or if you are a Luc Besson die-hard fan then watch Leon: The Professional and thank me later.

Add to the Vault? The only thing this film makes me want to add to the vault are other more superior films written by Luc Besson.

And now for the BADASS trailer for "From Paris With Love":