There have been many surprise action flick heroes over the past couple of decades. Matt Damon turned out an exceptional performance in the Bourne movies, Viggo Mortenssen in Lord of the Rings and now John Travolta? The last action flick I remember him being in was Swordfish – it was a decent movie with a great supporting cast. Here with his co-star Jonathan Rhys Meyers playing a rather petulant buddy hero, it is a bit of a strange mix and Travolta definitly steals the show!

Think of James Bond on steroids, meets The Punisher. Travolta plays “Charlie Wax”, a super secret clean-up guy newly arrived in Paris and Rhys Meyers is recruited to be his chauffeur for his stay. Drug dealers, car chases, explosions and more bullets than the Somalian battle in Mogadishu in 1993 make this the definitive guy flick. It’s the comic book action, popcorn and Mountain Dew flick you’ve been waiting for this year that you know ahead of time has such a limited plot, no true character depth and god awful supporting actors – yet like a good book – you just can’t put it down.

All in all Pierre Morel – director of such movies as Taken & Transporter 2 – does an excellent job of taking what is usually a very heavy and cluttered Luc Besson (Fifth Element, The Transporter, Taken, La Femme Nikita) and turning it into a fast-paced action flick with a definite pulse!

All in all I give it 4.5 out of 5!