Movie: Paradise City

This Review Reveals Minor Details About the Plot.

Paliuli Village

Plot Overview

Bounty hunter Ian Swann (Bruce Willis) traces a whale of a bounty Terrance Billford (John Travolta) to Hawaii where operating under assumed name Mr. Arlene Buckley he's backing one Thomas Kane (Branscombe Richmond) for a Senate run. They're working with a cartel to peddle influence to strip mine the island state and turn it into an inter­national drug hub. Before Ian can turn in the collar, Buckley's henchmen send him to sleep with the fishes.

Ian's son Ryan (Blake Jenner) joins forces with another bounty hunter Robbie Cole (Stephen Dorff) and a police­woman Savannah Tui (Praya Lundberg) to trace Ian's leads. Savannah uses some FBI soft­ware to retrieve his main lead from his water­logged cell phone. Robbie gets kidnapped for interrogation. Ryan gets arrested then released.

The criminals are holding Robbie in Golden Throne, their redoubt on the other side of the island. Savannah marshals some Charlie's Angels types to “Trojan Horse” their way in while they're celebrating the destruction of Paliuli Village (Paradise City) the last obstacle to their scheme. Ryan comes disguised as the girls' security/chauffeur. A mole arrives from underground.

Ideology

There are some big career lessons to be garnered from this modest Hawaiian island episode along the lines of, (Prov. 30:24) “There be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise:”

(Prov. 30:25) “The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer.” The first lesson is to start working early, in the summer of life. Ryan as a kid was taught­—against his protest—by his dad, “He taught me how to handle a gun” (“It might save your life some day.”) Buckley taught his son Ern (Micah Giovanni) how to operate socially as a “well mannered young man.” And we see a Hawaiian lad minding a healing hut in the village.

(Prov. 30:26) “The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks.” Location is very important to any enter­prise. The criminals operated from a veritable fortress with escape tunnels under­neath. The native holdout was in an isolated village surrounded by mountains.

(Prov. 30:27) “The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by bands.” It's good to have an informal support network. As Ryan's dad put it, “You wanna be in this f___ed up business, you need a partner to watch your back.” Savannah has a whole stable of civilian informants (“These ladies have given me more leads than the entire MPD.”)

(Prov. 30:28) “The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings' palaces.” The palace is rigorously dusted for cobwebs, yet that spider is still at it. Law enforcement has given up finding Terrance Billford, but the bounty hunter, and then his son, is still in pursuit.

Production Values

“” (2022) was directed by Chuck Russell. It was written by Edward Drake, Corey Large and Chuck Russell. It stars Bruce Willis, John Travolta and Stephen Dorff. Willis is reliably good but his failing health has slowed him down. His stunt double enlivens his character suddenly at times, but the over­all effect is disjointed. The other main actors seem to defer to him by holding back. In racially diverse Hawaii, one of the two arresting night officers is a spook, the effect would have been scarier if both were.

MPAA rated it R for violence and language. Since it had the R rating any­way, Hawaii would have more lived up to its bad reputation had they sexualized the movie more than the odd lap dance. The island is so exotic that you just have to point the camera any­where to get a decent picture, which is what the cameraman seems to have done. The hula dances swayed to and fro but ended too soon. The dialogue worked okay for nobody having any wit. The women's bodies were curvaceous in a cookie cutter sort of way. There are a lot of features to this film that could stand improvement, or lacking that, rescue by some main feature to eclipse them.

Taking a chance by putting all their eggs in one basket, they pulled out all the stops in presenting strong female characters. Savannah was a tough talking police­woman (“Don't call me honey”) who followed through (“a real pit bull.”) She was technically savvy in MacGyvering an under­water metal detector and she was a whiz with advanced soft­ware. She was gorgeous in bikini or evening dress, she could hike for miles over the mountains, and she could karate kick with the best of them. She won the men's respect (“She's smarter than your last girl­friend,”) she called the elder woman “auntie,” and her loyal female informants called her “mom.” She honored the local culture, and she picked her male interest after he proved his merit. One of the Charlie's Angels flexed her skinny black muscle touting her tours in Afghanistan. The clan's elder was a woman.

Review Conclusion w/a Christian's Recommendation

If I were a food critic I'd compare it to a sci-fi dish from a Jack Williamson novel:

he went back to the dome with two lemon rolls for Mondragon.

The rolls were made from mutant kelp, with no natural lemon in them, but they were tart and sweet. He had almost learned to like them, and Mondragon said they were poco bueno. (169)

I could almost like this movie. Someone more culturally attuned might even enjoy it a little.

Movie Ratings

Action factor: Decent action scenes. Suitability For Children: Not Suitable for Children of Any Age. Special effects: Average special effects. Video Occasion: Better than watching TV. Suspense: Keeps you on the edge of your seat. Overall movie rating: Two stars out of five.

Works Cited

Scripture quotations are from the King James Version. Pub. 1611, rev. 1769. Software.

Williamson, Jack. The Black Sun. Copyright © 1997 by Jack Williamson. New York: Tom Doherty Associates, 1997. Print.