From Paris With Love (BD)

What has become of John Travolta? As a talented actor, Travolta, has ostensibly torpedoed his own career by undertaking tedious villainous roles in “Broken Arrow,” “Battlefield Earth,” “Swordfish,” and “The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3.” In these movies, many critics have rightly described his performances as hammy and monotonous. But in spite of this, his filmography contains a number of dazzling performances, like those in “Pulp Fiction,” “Get Shorty,” “Face/Off,” “Hairspray,” and “Primal Colors.” Nonetheless, Travolta’s critically acclaimed roles are far and few between. Does “From Paris with Love” change anything that Travolta has done before? The answer to this would be a resounding no.

James Reece (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) is a personal aide to the U.S. Ambassador in France, who decides to work for the CIA as a low-level agent. Reece is asked to partner up with a trigger-happy, gun-loving agent, Charlie Wax (John Travolta). Their mission is to find the source of an imminent threat on the life of a higher U.S. official arriving in Paris. Soon, they are navigating through the streets of Paris in their search for the clues that will eventually lead them to the master planner.

Directed by Pierre Morel, who also directed “Taken,” “From Love with Paris” borrows the same style that was evident in his previous effort--hunt down and kill the perpetrators at any cost, and the hunt takes its protagonists to a foreign land. Not only does this commando approach endanger civilian lives, but it is also a reminder of how a few agents working for the covert CIA agency operate with a military mind-set. In one scene, without any concern for innocent people dining in a restaurant, Reece and Wax tear down the restaurant with bullets in their search to find drugs. Later, in the movie’s climax, Wax uses a rocket-launcher to target a suicide bomber, in the process disregarding the highway traffic. While all of this is happening, French authorities are unaware of the threat and hardly kept in the loop by American diplomats in Paris, hardly a plausible scenario.

The story starts with Reece and Wax looking for a possible lead lower in the criminal food chain. While this aspect of the plot seems believable, it does present criminals in a stereotypical fashion based on their race: a shooting at a Chinese restaurant, a Pakistani in a street of Paris, a group of black men, and finally a white suicide bomber. Wax’s ostentatious display of swagger and arrogance sticks out like a sore thumb. With a big earring, a scarf wrapped around his neck, and a bald head, Wax’s appearance can easily be mistaken for a narcotics agent rather than a CIA agent. His punk-headed approach toward carrying out standard operating procedure is reminiscent of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Denzel Washington styles--the dress style resembles Denzel in “Training Day,” while the gun-wielding image of Arnold from “Commando” gets refreshed. Rest assured, none of this makes Travolta’s style in this film worth remembering. Does the CIA have operatives like this?

Considering the amount of action involved, one can rightly categorize the film as a mindless action flick, but this one is a real drag. The film lacks depth due to the conventional manner in which the plot unfolds and the contrived characters. Despite the negatives, the film has two chases with brilliant editing--the rooftop and the highway chases will definitely please action fans for relatively brief moments.


Video:
The movie is presented in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded in an AVC format. The director does not use popular tourist spots in this movie. Instead, the plot takes us through the dirtiest streets of Paris. As result, you won’t see detailed city architectures, landscapes, or bright lights. Most of the movie is shot indoors with a few outdoor chase scenes. Having said this, the movie looks really good in this Blu-ray edition. The detail is retained with consistent sharpness throughout. There is a bit of grain present in the restaurant shoot-out sequence, but its presence is due to the inherent quality of the film texture. The skin tones are lifelike and never appear to be washed out.


Audio:
Lionsgate has included a 7.1 DTS HD-Master audio track that is top-notch. The movie has a number of action sequences in the form of rooftop and highway chases. During these scenes, the surround channels are fully utilized, thereby providing a fully immersive experience. The dialogue is clear and crisp throughout. Wax’s assortment of guns--shotgun, machine gun and rocket-launcher--provide heavy, thundering sounds in action scenes. Overall, this is a demo audio track for an action film.


Extras:
Starting off the extras, we get a regular making-off featurette. Here the actress, Kasia Smutniak, talks about her stunts in the film, specifically the rooftop chase. John Travolta pours out his thoughts on how a fifty-six-year-old star such as he can display so much energy in action scenes.

Up next, we have a featurette, “Spies, Spooks, and Special Ops,” that is a series of interviews with former secret-service agents. They shed some light on their secret missions and the process of acquiring information.

Next, we have a short featurette, ”Secrets of Spy Craft,” that takes a journey to the International Spy Museum.

Following this, we have a featurette, “Charlie Wax’s Gun Locker.” Basically, this featurette opens up a locker with the guns used by Wax in the film. After you select a gun, the featurette takes you right to the scene where Wax actually uses the gun.

Finishing off the extras, we get a commentary track by the director, Pierre Morel. He talks at length about different scenes, challenges in the rooftop and highway chases. He pours out his thoughts about actors and the rest of the crew.

Also included is a second disc that contains a digital copy of the movie.


Parting Thoughts:
“From Paris with Love” is no “From Russia with love.” Engrossing foreign espionage elements are rarely used, and, instead, the plot banks on excessive use of guns; what’s more, it does this with a lot of pride. None of it adds up, and the final product is a complete misfire.