Home Movie Reviews Paradise City Review: Willis & Travolta Reunite In Disappointing Action Thriller

The film contains entertaining components, but these elements quickly run their course thanks to a predictable script, wonky dialogue & pacing issues.

John Travolta and Bruce Willis in Paradise City

Movie icons and Pulp Fiction costars Bruce Willis and John Travolta reunite and face off in Chuck Russell’s latest action-packed thriller, Paradise City. Collaborating with Russell for a second time, Travolta plays power broker Buckley, tapping into his menacing and conman skills once again on the big screen. For Willis, his role as bounty hunter Ian Swan comes almost a year prior to his public Aphasia diagnosis. Opposite the two action film veterans are Blake Jenner and Praya Lundberg. With such a star-studded cast, it’s easy to see why director Chuck Russell wanted them all in a fast-paced and fun action feature. It doesn’t always overcome its hurdles, but Paradise City keeps the entertainment flowing thanks to a committed cast.
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The story follows Ian Swan (Bruce Willis), a bounty hunter who disappeared somewhere in the Hawaiian Islands. On his search for an international drug lord he’s pursued for years, Swan gets caught in a major crossfire and is presumed dead. His estranged son, Ryan Swan (Blake Jenner) follows his father’s trail into a dangerous underworld. Joined by his father’s ex-partner, Robbie Cole (Stephen Dorff), and Savannah, a local detective (Praya Lundberg), all set out to find Swan’s presumed killers. They’ll just have to go through the ruthless power broker Buck (John Travolta), whose plan for the island threatens the beauty and existence of the sacred lands.

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Bruce Willis as Ian Swan in Paradise City

At the heart of Russell’s latest is a story about a son chasing his father’s ghost. When this main plot is at the focus of the film, the script, written by Corey Large, Edward Drake, and Chuck Russell, soars beyond just an average and derivative action feature. Specifically, when the theme of breaking generational methods of working confronts tradition, Paradise City excels, and it’s truly able to establish an important conversation around following in the footsteps of one’s parent. Somewhere along the way, however, these types of themes take a backseat to the heavy action to make additional room for other subplots. As a result, the film comes off muddled, with very little breathing room for viewers to digest what’s going on.

One may be able to forgive the chaos of the ongoing subplots simply because the actors fully commit to such absurdities, but there’s a larger missed opportunity that ultimately hurts Russell’s latest. An additional storyline of Paradise City is Buck’s business venture that would turn the beautiful city of Maui into a drug hub. This change would bring about destruction to sacred lands, with which Hawaiians pride themselves on having connections. Yet not much time is spent exploring these lands or showcasing the beauty of Maui that Buck is hellbent on destroying. It cheapens the impact of Buck’s ruthless behavior and only reveals him as a criminal mastermind for drug-selling purposes. The script could have really benefited from a deeper dive into these moments.

John Travolta as Buck in Paradise City

It’s also somewhat difficult to care about most of the characters in Paradise City because of severe pacing issues. At times, the action is heavy; at others, the script becomes overly tedious with its explanations. Ultimately, the film doesn’t spend enough time giving its viewers a sense of who these characters are at their core. Consequently, the story doesn’t progress naturally, nor does it give viewers a reason to care what happens to the characters. But the biggest disappointment of all is the lack of real emotional weight throughout the story. Whenever supposed heartwarming moments are introduced, they aren’t executed as well as they could have been.

Director Chuck Russell’s projects always bring a sense of vivacity and killer action sequences in ways his peers often struggle with. But this time around, the magic is missing from Paradise City. Sure, his film contains reliable and entertaining components like most action features do — including an underlying vengeance plot, an expert conman, and even a budding romance — but these elements tend to quickly run their courses thanks to a predictable script, wonky dialogue, and pacing issues. If not for the efforts of the cast and their remarkable chemistries, it could have quickly ventured off into a complete snooze fest. But there’s no doubt that the film could be an easy watch for fans of old-school action thrillers.

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Paradise City releases in theaters, on digital, and on demand November 11. The film is 93 minutes long and rated R for violence and language.