French filmaker has the guts to do what American filmers won't

The Weekly Standard reviewed From Paris with Love recently, and the director Pierre Morel, just like with his previous movie called Taken, he's shown the bravery to make the villain here an Islamic extremist:

There’s also something to be said for the film’s willingness to make the face of international terrorism that of a Muslim extremist. All too often – as with last weekend’s Edge of Darkness – a plot will unravel only to show that the real culprit is either a corrupt member of the United States government, or a black hearted corporation, or some other malevolent Western force in search of filthy lucre.

That willingness to deal in moral absolutes – terrorism bad, killing terrorists good – is one of the reasons that Morel’s films have been such a success. In Taken it was human traffickers, and in Banlieu 13 it was rival drug dealers and corrupt politicians, while the calculus remains roughly the same. Structuring a picture around archetypes will always leave certain critics sniffing about simplistic stories, but sometimes all the audience is looking for is a piece of entertainment, something rousing to get the blood pumping.

I may not watch that many movies today, but From Paris with Love is something I'll certainly have to find the opportunity to see.

Here's 2 more reviews from Debbie Schlussel and Big Hollywood.