Waxing Poetic about Paris Shoot-out

Sorry this is a little late, but I got shot-up pretty badly during last weekend’s gun battle.

Of course, my adventures in paintball were nowhere near as cool as John Travolta’s adventures as a wild, shoot first-ask later-shoot again, just in case government agent.

“From Paris with Love” introduces Charlie Wax (Travolta), a not-quite-legal operative for the U.S., to James Reece (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), a wannabe special ops candidate currently serving the U.S. in a less-than-action-packed role at the Paris Embassy.

Reece has been doing some minor intelligence work—not-so-exciting things like changing license plates in dark garages and planting bugs in the offices of French officials. However, this minor spy work has only wetted his taste for becoming a spec-ops agent.

And then, Wax roles into town on a mission. Short of a driver, Reece is tapped for the job, thrusting him headlong into a mad race involving drugs, the Chinese, prostitution and terrorism.

This movie looked like a wild thrill-ride from the trailer, and it did not disappoint. While it follows the usual oil-and-water buddy movie idea, the story and the details bring back some of the excitement from when the original “Lethal Weapon” came out in theaters.

A long time ago, I remember Travolta as a lovesick high school punk singing about his shy summer love and his car. Admittedly, he has come a long way from “Grease,” but I can’t help but being amazed at his career now. Who would have thought to shave him bald, give him a freaking huge earring, a Royal with Cheese and a pair of submachine guns and send him rampaging through Paris would be make a great movie? Well, obviously, director Pierre Morel did, and he was right.

Travolta had to have had a blast with this movie, because he goes through the entire thing with this mad kid-let-loose-in-Disney-World gleam in his eye. And audiences will definitely cheer for the way Wax handles terrorists and drug dealers.

Meyers plays a completely different character than his popular role as King Henry on Showtime’s “The Tudors.” The role was so different that it took me a minute to put the two together, but I did end up liking him in the end. He worked well with Travolta, in a straight (-laced) man way.

Go give some box-office love to “From Paris with Love.” It won’t break your heart.

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