Wax On, Wax Off...With Travolta & Mrs Jones

From Paris With Love continues Luc Besson's drive to remain the number one producer of bullshit action films in the world today. While old skool rival, Joel Silver (he of Action Jackson, Romeo Must Die, Fair Game) keeps knocking them out (see The Losers), no one currently has such a vested interest in the mass manufacturing and distribution of gleefully simplistic and violent action thrillers as Besson. The Transporter films, Danny The Dog, Kiss Of The Dragon...all Euro shot, English language, medium budgeted, kinetic adult dramas with a huge dollop of escapism.

'From Paris' is from Taken director Pierre Morel, who ditches the focused intensity of Liam Neeson to the more chaotic rock 'n' roll of John Travolta. The tone of the film follows Travolta's lead, leaving more room for fun and wisecracking...while sticking to the primary law of maximum carnage. This is Besson's attempt at a Shane Black movie; mismatched partners (one a conformist brain box with a family life, the other a highly trained, hot-dog, law-enforcer with a disregard for the rules) team up to fight bad guys. As the title suggests, this one is more spy themed than Taken was...with a distinct flavor of 24 and Bourne thrown into the mix...although a far more preposterous version than of either of those.

The movie rests on is leads, and is in that respect, only partially successful. Travolta, as expected, is having a field day playing maverick spy Charlie Wax. Cursing, killing, singing and swaggering; no one plays baddies with as much gusto as Travolta. If you though he was off the leash in Pelham 123, then triple that for his portrayal of a super-spy here (the bonkers bloke even has a custom gun called Mrs Jones!) Rhys Myers, while having the straight role of the two, is simply too stiff to play his uptight partner. He's not awful and he gets the job done, but he's in a completely different game than Travolta's playing...and you need an actor to emphasise and identify with, rather than one that's simply going through the motions.

The action's cool, as anticipated, including a great car chase on the French motorway with Travolta brandishing a rocket launcher. Thank you Mr Besson for another stylish, dumb-but-fun Euro-thriller. With Columbiana, a Zoe Saldana starring action fest on the horizon, it looks like his reign will continue. Viva la France!