"From Paris with Love" Movie Trailer Review (2010)

By our guest blogger, Rob Stammitti

Pierre Morel, a frequent collaborator with European action auteurs Luc Besson and Louis Leterrier, received a fair deal of recognition last year for his action-revenge film "Taken," starring Liam Neeson. It was his English-language debut and it was certainly a solid effort, more toned down compared to many movies in this more over-the-top oriented era of action films, but still a lot of fun. It also happened to bring in $225 million at the box office, definitely a fiscal success no matter how you look at it, but even moreso when you consider the budget was only $25 million.

So, now Morel is returning with another film set in Paris, this time upping the ante and from the looks of it, creating a crazy action picture much in the vein of his peers Besson and Leterrier.

"From Paris with Love" stars John Travolta as Charlie Wax, a wild and certifiably "badass" FBI agent assigned in Paris for some sort of big mission to stop terrorists. He is partnered with Richard Stevens (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), a far more straight-laced and comparitively less badass embassy worker who doesn't quite know what he's getting himself into.

I'm far from an action aficionado, but I'm certainly of the school of thought that action is at its best when it's not taking itself seriously, and that certainly seems to be the case here. Travolta looks like an absolutely riot wearing a giant leather jacket, his head shaved, running around rooms shooting everything in sight. And Meyers, always more of the straight man, is a perfect partner for this kind of thing.

I really enjoyed "Taken," and Morel has shown some really solid visual flair working as a cinematographer on films like "Transporter," so I can definitely see this being one to look out for. Just a bunch of silly, bloody fun.

The trailer for "From Paris with Love" is below. What are your thoughts?