From Paris With Love

Reviewed by Drav3n

Format: Blu-ray

Release: June 8, 2010

Rated: R

Runtime: 92 Minutes

The Movie:

In 2004, with Luc Besson writing and producing, Pierre Morel hit his first homerun as director with the French action film District B13. In 2008, they teamed up again to to deliver the smash hit "Taken" starring Liam Neeson. Already two-for-two, Morel has proven to audiences that he has what it takes to direct excellent action films. Now, here we are in 2010 and Morel and Besson are back at the plate, can they go three-for-three with this film, "From Paris with Love" ?

The movie stars Jonathan Rhys Meyers as James Reece, a personal aide to the US Ambassador in France who is secretly moonlighting as a low-level CIA operative. Looking for more action, Reece accepts a job that teams him with the wisecracking special agent Charlie Wax (John Travolta), a trigger-happy loose cannon sent to Paris on a mission of international importance. Now, Reece finds himself on the wildest ride of his life as the new partners pull out all the stops to annihilate the enemy in this explosive, white-knuckle, nonstop thriller.

I'm gonna start with the bad first. The biggest mistake is the casting. Meyers has done nothing as an actor to impress me, and his performance in this movie was awful. And having to sit through Meyers deliver the worst looking fake punches I have ever seen in a movie is a perfect example of why he should never be involved with an action movie again. The way his eyes shifts from left-to-right every time he speaks, makes me wonder if all of his lines were on cards. What kind of an "acclaimed" actor can't remember his lines? He might have won a Golden Globe in 2005, but it hasn't helped him improve in any way.

And then there's Travolta. Wow, and I thought his performance in The Taking of Pelham 123 was bad. This must've been a excuse for him to get paid to say "motherf*cker" for 90 minutes. And he doesn't even add any emphasis on "motherf*cker" either. While Travolta can deliver a good performance in the right film, most of the action movies that I've seen him in, he plays the exact same role, and brings nothing extra to the film. And this is one of those films. Plus it's painfully obvious when the stunt double is on screen for Travolta.

Even though I didn't like the acting, the movie itself was still pretty solid. Sure the twist was predictable, but Morel executed it in a way that really worked itself out. The action scenes were enjoyable and definitely reminded me that this was the same guy behind Taken and District B13.

I may not have heard of the actors in District B13 at the time, but their chemistry together worked really well, and plus knowing they were doing their own stunts, that benefited the movie as well. With Taken, Liam Neeson continued to prove how good of an actor he can be. Unfortunately that's not present in this movie. The chemistry between Travolta and Meyers isn't there. The only memorable scene in this movie is when Travolta is hanging outside the window of a car with a rocket launcher in one hand, and talking on his cell phone with the other.

I give it a 2.5 because I did enjoy the movie, but the film could've benefited so much more if they had casted two different actors instead of the ones we were stuck seeing. I'm not gonna say it's a great movie, and it's definitely not a bad movie, but coming from a director who impressed me with his previous two films, I expected alot more out of this film than what was presented.

Presentation:

Lionsgate has definitely impressed me as of late with their blu-ray releases, and the presentation for this movie is just as impressive as I had expected. The overall image is sharp and provides an excellent amount of detail. Colors look great, black levels are deep, and facial closeups provide an excellent amount of detail. The only complaint I had was with the skintones. Depending on the location, the skintones could look accurate or could suffer from the "orange" effect.

Audio:

The 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track will definitely put your speakers to work. During the non-action scenes, the dialogue is crisp and clear and has no issues. The sound effects are strong sounding and the score blends well with the dialogue, again never causing any issues.

Bonus Material:

• Audio Commentary - Featuring Director Pierre Morel
• The Making of From Paris With Love (1080p, Runtime 26:42) - An excellent featurette that provides interviews with the cast and crew, behind the scenes footage, and how certain scenes were done.
• Spies, Spooks and Special Ops: Life Under Cover (1080p, Runtime 16:06) - This features former CIA operatives as they discuss spying in real-life.
• Secrets of Spy Craft: Inside the International Spy Museum (1080p, Runtime 4:26) - A short yet interesting look into the many devices and objects that were created and used by real spies
• Friend or Foe Trivia Game - A track that coincides with the movie with questions popping up during the movie.
• Charlie Wax's Gun Locker - A look at the weapons used in the movie. Also includes the weapon's specs, firing range, rating and you can watch it in action.
• Theatrical Trailer

Bottom Line:

If you enjoyed District B13 and Taken, you want to give this movie a chance. Just don't expect the same quality from the previous two. While the acting is bad and forgettable, Morel makes up for it with the action scenes and a decent, yet predictable story. The disc looks good and sounds great, and the special features definitely should be watched. I don't see much of a reason to revisit this film, which is a shame. Ultimately, I can't justify this movie being more than a rental.