John Travolta, in his first major film since the death of his son in 2009, single-handedly destroys waves of bad guys the same way Nickelback single-handedly destroyed my interest in modern rock radio stations.

Yet unlike Nickelback’s lack of musical talent, “From Paris with Love” manages to provide its audience with some entertainment — although the film is far from flawless.

James Reece (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) is a personal aide to the U.S. Ambassador in France, and has a side job as a low-level secret agent with a mega-hot French fiance (Kasia Smutniak) with whom he is deeply in love.

When Reece gets a promotion in his spy gig, he teams with Charlie Wax (John Travolta), a real spy who doesn’t always play by the rules. Throughout the film, Reece is conflicted between following his straight-laced principles and following the crazy demands of his new partner.

Travolta’s character is the typical “movie spy,” a single man who can wipe out entire armies of terrorists and drug dealers, and can somehow manage to get laid by pretty much any woman he desires. Reece, on the other hand, is devoted to his woman and quickly discovers that, unlike Wax, he has a hard time pulling the trigger when it comes to putting down cocaine dealers.

Wax and Reece embark on a mission to shut down a circuit of drug dealers in Paris. The duo soon discovers this same circuit has been targeting Reece and tracking his actions, launching them deep into a terrorist conspiracy from which they must gun their way out. Wax does most of the gunning; Reece just follows him around, questioning his every demand.

This pattern quickly gets boring and predictable, as Wax’s instincts always end up being right.

“From Paris with Love” provides its audience with some pretty entertaining action sequences, but only one real major plot twist. In all fairness, the film resolves its conflicts pretty unexpectedly.

This film is a bit of a letdown when compared to Taken, the prior action film created by writer Luc Besson and producer Pierre Morel. Unfortunately, “From Paris with Love” seems to lack some of the qualities that made Taken so great: in place of a compelling and focused plot that was inherent in Taken, Besson and Morel have instead supplemented the lackluster plot of From Paris with Love with a wise-cracking, gun-slinging Travolta who will quickly make you feel like you’re watching more of a comedy than an action movie.

The occasional use of cheesy one-liners, in addition to some poor dialogue between characters, adversely affects the film, making some scenes awkward to watch. Some unrealistic action sequences, such as Wax’s ability to find a rocket launcher just in time to save the day, will inevitably have much of the audience face palming and rolling their eyes.

With all flaws aside, “From Paris with Love” will probably entertain you. If you’re bored and are in the mood for an action flick, or if you’re a die-hard Travolta fan, this film may be worth your hard-earned eight bucks.

Otherwise, just wait until this one comes out on DVD.

E-mail the author: Ryan Taljonick