Bald Travolta?

I had quite the weekend with plenty to talk about. I enjoy having enough spare time on my days off to take in a movie or two (even if it's at home...), especially if the movie(s...) is just mindless fun. Guess what? That's exactly what I'm gonna talk about today (HUZZAH!). Most know I'm a fan of many over the top action movie, particularly those from the late 70's through the early 90's. I'm not sure if this one is supposed to be a throwback, a send up, an homage, or what, but it would have fit within this grouping say 15 years ago. Today, we're going to look at From Paris with Love...

This little gem stars Jonathan Rhys Meyers as James Reese, a ladder climbing CIA agent who gets assigned with John Travolta as Charlie Wax, an over-the-top secret agent with an unorthodox style of getting the job done (fairly standard buddy cop setup...). Reese must prove his worth by helping Wax uncover a terrorist plot to mess up some kind of political summit, all the while dodging countless bullets, taking part in foot/car chases, discovering traitors and the like. Further, Wax's attitude and modus operandi (oh yes...) basically drag Reese from gun battle to gun battle, getting him into loads and loads of trouble. Luckily for Reese, Wax is also very good at getting him out of said trouble (think Mary and Pippin from LotR, but with guns...). I don't want to spoil this movie (in case you're a fan of this kind of flick...), but there is a bit of a twist in it, so I am holding back on plot details (for now...)...

All in all, this was a pretty good movie, even if it was a bit predictable. Standard action movie fare, for sure, but quite enjoyable (if you like to turn your brain off and watch some gun fights...). It was co-written by Luc Besson, who you might remember from such movies as The Fifth Element and Leon the Professional (two highly rated flicks by moi...) and his flair for film once again shows here, albeit a bit more polished that The Professional. Meyers plays the budding agent type fairly well; intense in a nubile kind of way (a departure from The Tudors...). Travolta (a more than seasoned actor at this point...) really looked like he was having fun with Charlie Wax. I think Travolta has played most kinds of characters by now and it was much fun seeing him as this particular kind of character; narcissistic to the core, brash and in-your-face along with a devil-may-care attitude. The character definitely harkens back to the roles of Schwarzenegger, Stallone, Gibson and Lundgren during their heyday of being action stars and I love it for that...

My only complaint is that the movie could have been 'more'. I was expecting more slugfests from Travolta (say, with a rival/enemy agent who's as bad ass as Wax...) at some point and I didn't get my wish. Also, they could have made Reese tougher than he was. It kind of felt like Wax just kept dragging him by the collar from one scene to the next. But, would I recommend this movie? Sure would, just not to everybody I come across. This is definitely a dude movie, through and through. It's a sit down, veg out with a bag o' popcorn, and turn off the brain kind of show. From Paris with Love will certainly never win any awards (nor does it need to...), but it sure beats the hell out of Battlefield: Earth...

Grade: a solid B and the hope a sequel wouldn't suck...