Pierre Morel

“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.

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.