“From Paris with Love,” the latest film from writer Luc Besson (“Taken”), opened at a surprising third place at the box office Feb. 5, even though critics’ opinions are all over the map.

The plot revolves around James Reece (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), an aide in the American embassy in France, who helps the CIA with small jobs on the side. In the film, Reece is thrown into a job with Charlie Wax (John Travolta), a foul-mouthed, rule-breaking and potentially psychotic American spy sent to France to bust a terrorist-based drug ring.

While the plot is nothing new for spy movie fans, the chemistry between Travolta and Meyers, alongside the impressive—if slightly over the top—visual effects, makes the movie a fun ride. That is, if you’re willing to let go of reality for a bit, learn to read between the plotlines and figure some things out yourself.

A real sleuth will be able to figure out the “plot twist,” but if you focus on the gunfire instead of the sub plots, you won’t figure it out until it’s almost too late.

And there is plenty of gunfire to hold your attention. The fight scenes, which mostly feature Travolta performing feats of action that no man his age or size should be able to do, are well choreographed and designed. Meyers plays the naïve wanna-be spy well, eventually giving up on understanding his partner in favor of following him around with Labrador-like attention.

The film is riddled with references to other well known films, such as Bond flick “From Russia with Love” and “Pulp Fiction”—where Travolta also comments about a “Royale with cheese”—but “From Paris” comes up short in embodying the feel of these classics.

Though it may not become a spy classic, at an hour and a half it’s a fun ride most should enjoy.