Setting aside the one-star rating we recently afforded to the Liam Neeson thriller, Taken, Empire generally has a soft spot for the demented action thrillers produced by Luc Besson’s EuropaCorp.
From the Taxi flicks to District B13 to the magnificent Transporter franchise, they’re cheap, cheerful, modern day exploitation flicks with plenty of car chases, tough guy posturing, sexy ladies, explosions, ridiculous dialogue and some kick-ass fight scenes.
And so we’re glad to hear that John Travolta has signed on to the latest from the Besson conveyor belt of madness.
From Paris With Love will star Travolta as an American secret agent on a high-risk mission in Paris, who crosses paths with a young embassy worker. Jonathan Rhys Meyers has also joined the cast, presumably as the embassy worker.
Pretty slight plot, it has to be said, but we’re sure that Besson, who’s producing once more, and who co-wrote the screenplay along with Adi Hasak, has plenty of mayhem up his sleeve. It’ll also be interesting to see if Travolta, who was so good in his John Woo double-bill of Broken Arrow and Face/Off, can convince as an action hero now that he’s the wrong side of 50.
The title would also seem to suggest that Besson is aiming for a Bond vibe with this, so could we see Travolta's character return in future instalments?
The one downer? It’s directed by Taken’s Pierre Morel, but we’re sure that his last movie was just an aberration.
The movie – budgeted at around $55 million – is already shooting, and exploding, in and around Paris.