When James Reese (Jonathon Rhys Meyers) a personal aide to the U.S. ambassador in France is assigned a new task that will hopefully bump him up the ranks he never counted on the actions of the partner he would be working with. By completing this task he will become a certified special agent of the CIA but he has to survive working with the over the top antics of Charlie Wax (John Travolta). I’d known nothing about the film beforehand except that it was from the same director as Taken & the same Producer of The Transporter so above anything else I expected action & it delivers. If anything its fun for the sake of being fun, there is plenty of explosions & bullet dodgings that you will either love or hate. My favourite thing about the film was Travolta’s crazy character, he was fast acting & tough talking but with a nice little comedy element thrown in while Meyers was essentially along for the ride. The comedy for me was so unexpected that when it did happen it took me completely by surprise, and what was even more surprising was that the comedy works.
Travolta’s loose cannon action & Meyers intellectual attributes make nearly every scene a winner, for the diehard action fans there are plenty of bullets flying but the comedy element really makes it accessible to pretty much anyone. Its early enough in the year but if every month or two has a nice little gem like this then there should be plenty of cinema seats filling up. I’m giving it a 9 out of 10, the acting was top notch, the story was good, the action & the cinematography were both fresh & exciting.
