Paradise City (2022) – Movie Review: Willis Is Back. Yes, He Is.

Paradise City is a movie starring Bruce WillisJohn Travolta and Stephen Dorff. It is directed by Chuck Russell.

A run-of-the-mill thriller that funnily enough, counts on some sequences and scenes that barely saves it from being a complete fiasco.

Premise

The renegade bounty hunter, Ryan Swan, has to pave his way into the Hawaiian criminal underworld to avenge his father’s murder.

Movie Review

Here we are offered an extremely irregular film, which at times comes across as a TV production, and at others surprises with good dialogues and photography. It combines simple and easy scenes with hackneyed plots that seem to have a failed ulterior motive, failed in the sense that they are diluted and disappear in what is a simple thriller, with a retro 90’s touch, maybe even 80’s (you decide).

Its strongpoint: John Travolta taking on the role as the kingpin, big kahuna in Hawaii. Let’s admit it, he is good at interpreting the bad guy.

As for the rest of the movie, this a just another thriller, without photographic novelty, sequences that are formulaic, and a premise of the classic good guy vs. bad guy. The script is not particularly elaborate, so there is not much to read between the lines. It stands out that the scenography has not been crafted with much care in a number of sequences, giving us the impression that this is a production that serves as “a filler”, which had it not counted on the names of the stars, it would gone completely unnoticed.

Our Opinion

In no way is this a groundbreaking thriller that will broaden your horizons, nor does it lead the way to new cinematic structures. It relies on the collective unconscious, taking it on trip to Hawaii accompanied by three movie stars, who make a movie that is moderately decent in quality, and has few pretensions of being anything else.

Movie Trailer

Director

Chuck Russell

Chuck Russell

Charles “Chuck” Russell (born May 9, 1958) is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is best known for his work in the 1980s and ’90s, including “A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors” (1987) and “The Mask” (1994).


Cast


John Travolta / Buck

Bruce Willis / Ian Swan

Blake Jenner / Ryan Swan

Stephen Dorff / Robbie Cole

Branscombe Richmond / Senator Kane

Lorenzo Antonucci / Scorpion

Kate Katzman / Nikki

Amber Abara / Gerry
Praya Lundberg / Savannah
Corey Large / Zyatt
See full credits >>

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