Invaderbank
The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.
AshUnow
This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.
Juana
what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.
The Movie Diorama
Originally titled 'Bastille Day', however due to a recent attack at the time of its release it was apt to rename this crime thriller. Regardless, changing the title cannot amend the noticeable flaws that hinder what could've been an exciting thrill ride. A thief, gifted with sleight of hand talents, steals a bag which happens to contain a bomb. Now on the run from governmental agencies, he teams up with an American agent to stop the real perpetrators. There is a political message hiding beneath the action, revolutionising against fascism. Riots spawn, security increase and Idris Elba running across rooftops as he protects the Parisian streets from terrorism. I think we can all learn from him in one way or another. But yes, revolutionary message aside this is simply just generic and unfortunately rather forgettable. Elba is a leading actor, we've seen his capabilities before and to some extent he is the main appeal here. The hand-to-hand choreography is well executed, although haphazardly edited occasionally, and does enhance the action required to elevate the story. Madden on the other hand is a beautiful creature, but that's not enough to redeem the monotony in his acting. Le Bon and Reilly were criminally underused, particularly the latter. The plot is easy enough to follow for the average viewer however doesn't exactly provide many thrills for those who have watched similar films before. And that's the main issue, its genericism doesn't differentiate itself above the rest making it quickly forgettable. One twist was well executed however the rest of the plot was predictable. On the flip side, it's a well structured narrative that makes its ninety minute runtime fly by. Even if the first and second acts are uninspired cat and mouse chases. Overall, The Take simply just takes up your time giving you limited thrills. Clean direction, serviceable acting and well executed action can't save a dull predictable plot. Oh, and stay for the credits song, our boy Elba is also musically talented!
Prismark10
Michael Mason (Richard Madden) is an American pickpocket in Paris, thieving to make a living.A case he steals goes off as it contained a bomb. Now he is hunted by the French police and a CIA agent based in the city, Sean Briar (Idris Elba.)They uncover a conspiracy at play to blame Muslims for the bombing atrocities while anti fascist protesters campaign against police brutality.The Take is a routine but underwhelming thriller. There are a few twists that involve corrupt cops but Elba is wasted as the maverick CIA agent who is frankly a bit dull.The film also has too many British actors playing Americans, surely the producers could afford some genuine American actors!
vostf
Bastille Day, as it was originally titled for release, is so badly crafted it never reaches the status of a real action feature film. On the whole it is hardly worth more than direct-to-video stuff.Sure action scenes are well done and some plot twists are nice, but the result is just a rushed up series of action scenes and transition/exposition talk scenes. To me it looks like the director is good at shooting music videos or short clips but is totally at a loss with the idea of creating a real rhythm spanning 90 minutes or so.Idris Elba is underused, as usual in movies, so he is not able to bring much more life to that stubborn reckless character. The rest of the cast is OK, they also have very little to work on.Worst of all is the plot. Although some twists revealing part of it are good, in the end it only succeeds in being both nauseous and stupid. Bastille Day graduates here into the Z movie realm: just don't be fooled by the budget and competent cast, producers wanted a quickie and they got what they deserved with this stinking quickie.
Sam-953-169285
This is an action/adventure and police story but not a spy story. Any mystery to be solved is typical police investigation.This is probably a great movie for those that enjoy action/adventure movies and don't want to think about it too much.The movie is typical. The American CIA avoids working with the French police. The writers rely on that to give the movie more adventure. The French people are quick to follow the leader in protests, such that they are portrayed as not caring what it is that they are protesting. The French police are not shown doing much to solve the problem except go around beating people up.
