Luc Besson

From Paris with Love

“From Paris with Love” is a fast-paced action comedy with John Travolta and Jonathan Rhys Meyers. I found this movie by accident, but I quite enjoyed it. So much in fact, that I watched it twice in the last month or so. Sure, it has a few weird romantic moments that needed more polish, but all of those are nicely compensated by action, humor, and an explosive, brutal, yet humane character of John Travolta. It’s John Travolta at his best. The one I missed for a long time now, since “Pulp Fiction”, “Be Cool”, and “Michael”.

Remember all those James Bond movies with Sean Connery? And then how all the charm was taken out of Agent 007 by Daniel Craig? Well, this movie is a variation on a modern James Bond (an American, of course, but still in Europe), with plenty of charm, and yet with enough brutality of Daniel Craig. Without Daniel Craig. (Not that I have anything against Daniel Craig outside of James Bond role).

There is not much else that I can say about it. Not your regular family entertainment, but a bunch of guys could have a blast with it over a pint of beer. My rating – 4 out of 5.

Taken

I just came back from the cinema, where I watched “Taken“. I’ve seen this film earlier on DVD, and it doesn’t have much to offer for the big screen versus the huge TV, but it’s a good enough movie to watch a few times. And I have to say that I enjoyed watching it again as much as I enjoyed watching it for the first time.

There is something about average looking special agents who can tare Europe apart if they need so. There is something about tough guys shooting, fighting, and driving in a very efficient way, without any show off what so ever. There is something about pissed off fathers coming to get their daughters. Well, except maybe the last one, this film is very similar to the Bourne films, so if you enjoyed those, you will enjoy this one too.

The film is a little bit slow to start and is a bit too verbose (to my taste) on the father’s love and protection of his daughter, but once it starts with the action stuff, it never stops until the very end. There is plenty to watch and follow, and there is enough suspense to keep you glued to the screen.

Overall, an excellent action movie – 5 stars.

Transporter 2

I’ve been eager to see “Transporter 2” since I finished watching the first film. I got my dirty hands on it today. Finally!

Directed by: Louis Leterrier
Genres: Action, Crime, Thriller
Cast: Jason Statham, Alessandro Gassman, Amber Valletta, Kate Nauta, Matthew Modine, Jason Flemyng, Keith David, Hunter Clary, Shannon Briggs, François Berléand, Raymond Tong, George Kapetan, Jeff Chase, Gregg Weiner, Gregg Davis
IMDB raintg: 6.3
My rating: 8.5 [rate 8.5]

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Taxi

Taxi (2004) I saw the trailer for “Taxi” and liked it a lot. So I decided to rent the DVD.

Directed by: Tim Story
Genres: Action, Comedy, Crime, Thriller
Cast: Queen Latifah, Jimmy Fallon, Henry Simmons, Jennifer Esposito, Gisele Bundchen, Ana Cristina De Oliveira, Ingrid Vandebosch, Magali Amadei, Ann-Margret, Christian Kane, Boris McGiver, Adrian Martinez, Joe Lisi, Bryna Weiss, GQ
IMDB raintg: 4.3
My rating: 3.0 [rate 3.0]

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Danny the Dog

I added “Danny the Dog” to my list of movies to watch because it was one of the most mentioned Jet Li movies. So I didn’t expect anything but a good action out of it when I pressed the playback button.

Directed by: Louis Leterrier
Genres: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Cast: Jet Li, Morgan Freeman, Bob Hoskins, Kerry Condon, Vincent Regan, Dylan Brown, Tamer Hassan, Michael Jenn, Phyllida Law, Carole Ann Wilson, Michael Ian Lambert, Jaclyn Lee, Puthirith Chou, Tony Theng, Owen Lay
IMDB raintg: 7.2
My rating: 8.5 [rate 8.5]

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