Paradise City
Take me away from “Paradise City” where the acting is (largely) bad and the writing is sh*tty.
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If anyone was likely to enjoy the Chuck Russell-directed and John Travolta and Bruce Willis-starring action flick “Paradise City” (now available in select theaters and on VOD), it’d be me. Russell’s made some rad movies over the course of his career, i.e. “A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors,” 1988’s “The Blob” remake and “Eraser.” I genuinely like a lot of Travolta’s action movie output … especially when he plays the heel. “Pulp Fiction” is one of my favorite films of all-time, so I was cautiously optimistic about a reunion between Travolta and Willis. Alas, I didn’t dig “Paradise City” … it’s the cinematic equivalent of the deuce Travolta’s Vincent Vega wasn’t allowed to drop when Willis’ Butch Coolidge clipped him on the toilet in Quentin Tarantino’s seminal classic.
Willis stars as Ian Swan, a Maui, Hawaii-based bounty hunter who’s shot and presumably killed when attempting to retrieve his target. Ian’s estranged son Ryan (Blake Jenner) is called to the island to identify his father’s shark bite-riddled body and takes it upon himself to investigate the murder. Aiding Ryan in his investigation are Ian’s gruff former partner Robbie Cole (Stephen Dorff) and comely cop Savannah (Praya Lundberg). Ryan’s inquiry eventually gains the attention of haole fixer Buck (Travolta), who’s quick to get the junior Swan on a flight out of town and resume his money-making schemes exploiting native lands.
“Paradise City” is written by Russell, Edward Drake (who’s been in the Bruno biz a lot of late as this is the eighth Willis movie he’s either written or directed in the past two years with another two on the way) and producer Corey Large (who co-stars as Buck’s lackey Zyatt). Point blank, these fellas’ script sucks. The story is thin and the dialogue is dim. It’s an action movie without much action (save for a fun bit in a high-rise hotel where a maid gets graphically blown away and Ryan leaps off a balcony into a koi pond below, which most assuredly would’ve broken his back). It wants to delve into issues of import (environmentalism and father-son dynamics), but never digs deeply enough.
“Paradise City” is sold as a Travolta-Willis two-hander when in actuality it’s actually a Jenner vehicle. Travolta plays Buck flamboyantly (he dons a frilly dress shirt through much of the picture), but his villain isn’t especially fun. (Conversely, watching Buck drop an island elder from a helicopter into an active volcano gives this junk a short-lived jolt.) Willis’ performance is largely cobbled together through the work of his doubles and ADR. Jenner is an actor I’ve liked elsewhere (“Everybody Wants Some!!,” “Edge of Seventeen,” “American Animals”), but I suspect he’s only as good as his material. The proceedings are only ever really enlivened through the presence of Dorff, but he’s banished from much of the flick’s back half.
I’ll leave you all with this thought inspired by the Guns N’ Roses song of the same name … take me away from “Paradise City” where the acting is (largely) bad and the writing is sh*tty.