| |
RATING:   
SINGAPORE: It is the typical odd-couple-buddy-cop movie you remember from the '80s - the one where you team up an uptight straight-laced young upstart (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) who desperately wants a more important government job with an older, wise-cracking, rule-breaking loose cannon (John Travolta) who always shoots first and thinks later.
Unfortunately, because "From Paris With Love's" one-too-many story strands - ranging from avenging a politician's niece, to taking down a drug cartel, to stopping a convoluted terrorist plot - are trodden out one after another, it never becomes the engaging film it wishes to be.
This is especially disappointing seeing as it's directed by Pierre Morel and produced by Luc Besson - the twosome who kept audiences on the edge of their seats with last year's sleeper success "Taken".
Sure, Morel's deft hand with compelling action set-pieces is sporadically apparent with the many gun-fights, glorified car chase scenes complete with bazookas, and a rack-'em-up body count.
But even an over-the-top, bald and unhinged Travolta, clearly having a cheesy blast right down to an obvious "Royale with Cheese" nudge-wink to "Pulp Fiction", isn't enough to save the film.
Its insistence on playing it all bullets and no brains, while wedging in tired jokes, puts the audience's minds immediately on auto-pilot as the movie ho-hums it's way to the finish line.
- TODAY/sh
|
