IslandGuru Who payed the critics

Supelice Dreadfully Boring

TaryBiggBall It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

crownofsprats Look, I wasn't expecting much here. I wasn't expecting to think, to feel, to experience something "cinematic" that would warrant a review. I just wanted to be entertained. 6.5 rating, aging Travolta, Besson's name attached...how bad could it be?And it's watchable...for a while. Travolta cusses, fusses, and murders his way through a loosely plotted first half. (The other guy is functionally useless except as a rare barometer of sanity when he whines about all their rampaging and carnage.) The action scenes are so goofy they could almost be parody. With some fun plot twists and maybe a bit of courage (not to be a xenophobic, sexist sewage-clogger), this could have gone somewhere satisfying. But the last act completely ruins it, turning it into the kind of film thugs would watch to get pumped up before going out and committing hate crimes.In actuality, your average American action film viewer in the era of Trump will find this enjoyable. Hence the 6.5 rating. That's the saddest part of all.

BA_Harrison Jonathan Rhys Meyers plays James Reese, aide to the U.S. ambassador in Paris. Reese is also working as a low level operative for the C.I.A. but gets the opportunity for promotion to special ops when he is partnered with loose cannon agent Charlie Wax (John Travolta), who is in France to foil a terrorist plot.From the moment Wax is cleared by customs, From Paris With Love becomes an constant noisy barrage of crazy shootouts, explosions and car crashes, Travolta hamming it up a treat as a cocky, trigger happy badass for whom nothing can't be solved with a bullet.There's never a lull in the pace, which makes it difficult at times to follow the story (which is by Luc Besson, so probably doesn't make much sense anyway), but with so much wanton violence and carnage on display, I couldn't help but be reasonably entertained no matter how silly it all got.

juneebuggy Yeah this was pretty terrible, I fell asleep watching it and then couldn't be bothered to go back and finish it because I' d seen it all before and just didn't care. A semi entertaining move dubbed as "an explosive thriller" that follows a desk-bound CIA agent (Jonathan Rhys Myers), who is suddenly given a big-time assignment by the agency and must team up with lone wolf (John Travolta) to stop a terrorist bombing.Filled with non-stop (but unremarkable) action scenes Travolta is Mr. tough cool guy and I hated his character -granted he does a decent enough job but I kept thinking Jason Statham would have been great in this role. And while I'm a fan of JRM this is probably the worst acting job I have seen from him, a wishy-washy character with a bad American accent. I honestly didn't "get" that he was an intelligence officer either until I read the synopsis, his position was never really explained. 7/1/14

DoomDealer Let's face it, films are supposed to be fun and not to be taken too seriously. From Paris With Love hits both these nails right on the head. This film is amazingly good fun; totally over the top and thoroughly enjoyable to watch. You can't take it seriously, so don't try. Yes, it's far from perfect and everything in it has been done before (and better), but it doesn't matter. It's still a lot of fun, if nothing else. John Travolta's performance is just fantastic, taking center stage from the minute he appears on screen. He apparently enjoyed himself so much during the making of this film (and it's quite obvious) that he wanted to make a sequel, which, unfortunately never materialised since the film wasn't the success everyone had hoped. Personally, I think that's a real shame since you have the potential for a fantastic fun action franchise here (no doubt, that's what the writers and producers originally had in mind), and, I for one, would have loved to see Travolta and Rhys Meyers in a few more instalments.There are a couple of things, however, that should be mentioned about this film. From Paris With Love is a collaboration of director Pierre Morel and writer Luc Besson, as is Taken with Liam Neeson. Taken is undoubtedly the better film, but From Paris With Love is more fun. Because of this Taken and From Paris With Love are very very similar. The first 30 minutes of both films can easily be skipped without missing anything fun or, indeed, relevant to the film. Just go straight to Charlie Wax sitting in the airport, and in Taken to the part where Liam Neeson knocks on his ex-wife's door to tell her and her new partner that their daughter has been taken. Everything before that is almost pointless.Secondly, both films have what would outside of France be called 'racist undertones'. Something you will also find in Taken in equal measures. They are subtle, but they're there. If you have been to France for any length of time you will know that the French's attitude to what would elsewhere be called racism is still somewhat different from most other European countries, without wanting to go into too much detail. Something to be aware of. If you can live with this potentially slightly more serious aspect, and your remote works, then just go for it. One of the most fun hours you will have had for some time.