The mini-series Paris Has Fallen, the final chapter of the “Has Fallen” franchise, had something to arouse my curiosity. It was promising on paper: a French adaptation of this ultraviolent action saga, born from American blockbusters, with the City of Lights as the scene of all the explosions and a local cast, led by Tewfik Jallab. But after watching all eight episodes, the verdict is in: Paris Has Fallen turns out to be a damp squib, an almost frustrating disappointment. From the first episodes, the plot does nothing to surprise. The scenario, centered around a political conspiracy and assassination attempts targeting the Minister of Defense, is content to string together hackneyed stereotypes. Opposite, a group of military villains (led by a terrifying but underutilized Sean Harris) operate under the pretense of retaliation and political betrayal.
Protection officer Vincent Taleb and MI6 agent Zara Taylor join forces to thwart an attack on the Defense Minister during a reception at the British Embassy in Paris. But very quickly, Vincent and Zara realize that terrorist Jacob Pearce's plan is much larger and targets the highest levels of the state. Will Vincent and Zara be able to prevent Paris from falling into the hands of this man thirsty for revenge?
This Manichean scheme, where the forces of good fight against bad terrorists, cruelly lacks innovation. Worse still, it seems that the series is sinking into a caricature of French action production. I was expecting a more original treatment, something that deviated from the beaten path, but Paris Has Fallen brings nothing new. The character motivations are superficial, the dialogue falls flat, and there is no depth to the exchanges. The cast's lack of charisma doesn't help either. Some actors, notably Emmanuelle Bercot and Laurent Lucas, struggle to give credibility to their characters, making certain scenes almost painful. Everything seems to play in automatic mode, without the slightest intention of bringing new life to this type of action story. In terms of implementation, Paris Has Fallen attempts to take advantage of its urban environment. Paris, with its iconic rooftops and narrow streets, could have served as the perfect setting for an intense and immersive series.
However, the staging fails to exploit this asset. The first episode promised an adrenaline rush with a correctly paced exfiltration scene, but the sequel proves more and more laborious. We quickly get lost in a series of scenes where the pace drops, as if stuck on a treadmill that leads nowhere. Each episode seems to be a copy and paste of the previous one, and the tension falls instead of building. Even the action scenes, supposed to be the heart of the franchise, don't have the dynamism one might hope for. An eight-episode mini-series, designed to captivate and transport the viewer, must maintain a constant intensity. Here, we see a loss of steam from the third episode. The series fails to revive interest or surprise the viewer. One of the recurring elements of the franchise Has Fallen is the use of raw violence, an aspect which had captivated the public in previous installments.
Paris Has Fallen remains in the same line, with scenes that are sometimes brutally realistic. However, here, this violence does not have the same emotional impact as in the original films. The scenes of violence, certainly well done, seem to have been added to shock without any real narrative reason, and this choice gives a feeling of superficiality. Sean Harris, who plays the role of the main antagonist, seems to be the only one to raise the level during these violent sequences. His performance recalls his role in Mission : Impossiblebringing a disturbing aura to each of his appearances. However, his talents are underutilized, leaving a bitter aftertaste of wasted potential. This contrast with the other actors, often uneven and unconvincing, makes Harris' scenes all the more striking – but isolated. One of the major weaknesses of this series lies in the poverty of its dialogues and the lack of coherence of its storyline.
Each episode attempts to play on political intrigues and twists that seem to follow one another without any real logic. Instead of adding depth, these hollow and repetitive dialogues weigh down the story. On several occasions, I found myself hoping for a narrative breakthrough, a scene that would bring some life to the characters, but this hope remained in vain. The plot, which could have offered an explosive cocktail, goes in circles. Events follow one another without any real surprises or tangible progression, and the storyline doesn't have enough ideas to support the format of a miniseries. We could even say that the series would have benefited from being condensed into a feature film, as the thinness of the storyline struggles to fill the eight episodes. At this level, releasing the series in separate episodes does more harm than good: each break between episodes gives time to reflect and realize how shaky the plot is.
The last episode is supposed to crown this adventure, to offer us an apotheosis of tension and action. Yet even there, Paris Has Fallen collapses. The pace of the ending is almost languid, leaving an impression of a rush to conclude a story that never really took off. This finale leaves a taste of unfinished business, as if the series had run out of steam at the very moment when it should have given everything. Watching the final episode, I hoped until the end that the series would manage to turn the tide, to restore some semblance of meaning to the whole thing. But in reality, this last act only confirmed what had already struck me throughout the episodes: the weakness of a series which, despite good technical means and a promising framework, has never really succeeded to captivate. Paris Has Fallen had everything to please fans of action series: French staging, correct technical means, an iconic setting and a theoretically captivating plot.
However, the series collapses under the weight of its script inconsistencies, its insipid dialogues, and its poorly developed characters. Even if actor Tewfik Jallab and Sean Harris manage to bring a semblance of credibility to their respective characters, it's not enough to save this series from boredom. At the end of the day, Paris Has Fallen is just a damp squib which, despite an intriguing start, never knew how to keep its promises. Fans of the franchise risk being disappointed by this French version which, lacking experienced screenwriters and creative inspiration, misses out on what could have been a captivating thriller in the heart of Paris.
Note : 3/10. In short, a series that sorely lacks flavor.
Available on myCanal
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