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The Basics:
Who made it? James
Watkins (director and writer), Andrew Baldwin (writer)
Who’s in it? Idris
Elba (!), Richard Madden, others who unfortunately aren’t Idris Elba
Synopsis: A CIA agent (Elba) and a young con artist (Madden) embark on
an anti-terrorist mission in France. Trailer.
Technical Note: You may have noticed the film being titled The Take in that trailer. It was
released in Europe this summer as Bastille
Day, and retitled The Take for its
U.S. release in November, presumably because no American knows what Bastille
Day is (France’s Fourth of July). The more you know; anyways to the review:
Bastille Day is an action-thriller that tries (and mildly succeeds) to
tap into current events and fears. It follows a terrorist plot in Paris. In
case you weren’t aware, terrorism in France has been a bit of an issue lately.
The film is so disturbingly timely that it was actually pulled from theaters in
France after the terrorist attacks in Nice.
Bastille Day has some interesting politics. Basically, it’s a film about
a foreign country that’s government is so inept it requires two Americans to
save the day. And that’s fine, America is basically the world’s police. But
what I find interesting is the film is directed and co-written by a British
man, and the two American heroes are played by British actors. Why not just
make them British, and at least let Idris Elba and Richard Madden talk in their
real accents? Not like it changes the plot at all. But I’m probably
overthinking a B action movie that just wanted to reach an American audience.
Anyways,
the real reason I checked out Bastille
Day was Idris Elba. He carries the film, I’m a huge fan, and seeing him as
a rogue CIA agent saving the day is very enjoyable.
His awesome screen presence and physicality really serve him well as an action
star, and hopefully there’s more in line. Considering he just had his first
professional kickboxing match (really!),
I’d say there’s a good chance of that.
Scene of the film: A rooftop chase scene that actually creates drama out of the
idea these guys could fall and die at any time.
Watch it if you like: action/thriller movies, Idris Elba, the film we the hero has
to go rogue and save the day and show his office-bound boss the he knows
nothing of the real world.
My Rating: 6/10
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