The Take (2016)

Starts of good but becomes really bad soon after. They should've made it an all french movie maybe it would've been better then, rather than have two main British actors doing an American accent which was sub-par by both. Worth watching if your bored

Fmovies: You have to forget that, during the making of this action film shot in Paris, the French capital was the scene of a brutal terrorist attack. Instead you have to go with the flow - and, boy, does it flow with constant flights and fights and a frenetically-cut chase sequence on rooftops that could have come straight out of a Bourne movie.

British director James Watkins has given us a thoroughly entertaining romp that never lets up and looks great. The plotting is utterly implausible but the hard-as-diamond core is the former CIA agent Briar played wonderfully by Britain's Idris Elba in a role that could be seen as an audition to be the next James Bond. Not at all sure about his 'singing' over the credits though ...

There isn't much of anything to this movie, other than a lot of fast action, with the usual "collateral damage." Idris Elba is an actual actor, but he has no material to act with here. So, for that matter, is Thierry Godard, one of the leads in the French TV series Un Village français, but here he gets nothing at all.

Every now and then there are allusions to current politics in French - the National Front, etc. - but they don't go anywhere, and are not explained.

Not much is done with the Paris setting. No pleasant scenes in the Eiffel Tower restaurants, or along the banks of the Seine, etc.

There is no point in summarizing the plot, such as it is, because it's not very interesting. Suffice it to say that, when all is said and done, this is actually about an impossible bank holdup.

If you decide to watch this movie - and I can't imagine why you would - watch it late at night when your mind has shut down and doesn't catch all the holes in the plot.

The Take fmovies. And no I'm not talking about a river. The charisma and screen presence Idris Elba projects is amazing. He can throw shades, have a stare-down and just generally make you do things without saying much. If someone like this is on the hunt to get you ... well you better run fast. But this is not just a chase movie. This has unfortunately some roots in reality with its terrorist attack theme.

This is something that is hard to stomach and might be too much for some to view, in light of things that did happen in Paris or anywhere else in the world for that matter. But if you can blend that out and just accept this as entertainment and a movie, you will get a suspenseful story, that is intriguing and decent enough to watch

Idris Elba has been in big Marvel films like "Thor" and "Avengers: Age of Ultron", but I don't really know how he looked like without the Heimdall costume. He had a performance last year in the film "Beasts of No Nation" which triggered controversy when he was not nominated for an Oscar, but this was not shown locally. Just this year, he had been in two films, "Zootopia" and "The Jungle Book." However in both films, we only hear his deep imposing voice. With this film "Bastille Day," we finally see Idris Elba as a modern day action hero, not far from the news that he is being touted to be the next James Bond.

Michael Mason is a skillful American thief in Paris. One day, he steals a bag from a distraught girl on the street named Zoe. After getting her cell phone and seeing nothing else of apparent value in the bag, he throws it into a garbage dump. The unexpected happens, killing four people and triggering mass paranoia and discontent in the city of Lights. CIA operative Sean Briar goes over and beyond his assignment to get to Mason and secure him before the French Police do, uncovering an insidiously complex plot which will come to pass on Bastille Day.

Idris Elba is as imposing and impressive as his voice was. When asked why he ran away, Mason quipped, "Don't you see how you look like?" Elba's Briar was big, macho, tough and scary, anyone would have tried to run if he comes to get him. As an agent, Briar was an independent-minded and reckless rouge to the chagrin of his CIA bosses, but to the delight of the audience. If this was a preview of how he would be as James Bond, it makes us all eager to see how Elba will transform the iconic role as his own.

Richard Madden is more known to many as the ill-fated Robb Stark on HBO's "Game of Thrones". After he bid the TV series goodbye via a bloody Red Wedding, he went on to be Prince Charming in the live action version of "Cinderella." Physically, Madden looked like a scared boy when placed side by side with the intimidating Idris Elba, which made him just right for the role of the unfortunate Mason, a guy who just so happened to steal the wrong bag. I liked the chemistry that was built between the two characters.

I was floored by the action sequences of this film, so raw with bone- crunching realism. I liked that the chase and fight scenes were not too obviously choreographed. That chase scene on the rooftops would have been flawless parkour stunts in another film. But here it was shaky and so uncertain that it created so much tension, so much better. The execution of the many twists and turns of the story was very effectively done, such that we never would have seen the climax miles away. I would not mind a sequel as the ending seemed to suggest. 8/10.

In recent years, Idris Elba has been mentioned as a possible candidate to play James Bond, but after watching Bastille Day, I think that the role of Jack Bauer would suit him better. What that means is that Bastille Day feels like an extended episode of 24, with echoes of Die Hard and a weak political message to simulate relevance. Nevertheless, I found it an entertaining film, with an interesting screenplay full of complications for the main character to overcome in order to obtain information which will take him to the terrorist group which planted a bomb. But, was it really a terrorist group? The answer is complicated, and that's the only thing Bastille Day has in its favor in order to be differentiated from uncountable action movies with a similar style and manufacture. And we also have Elba, who displays conviction and an imposing presence in the leading role, helping us to overcome the improbable situations in which his character gets constantly involved, as well as the forced coincidences implemented by the screenplay to ease or obstruct his mission. The performances from the rest of the cast are adequate, and Bastille Day makes a good use of the Parisian locations, adding a European taste to season the Hollywood formulas exploited without any shame. On the other hand, I don't see the sense of hiring an English and a Scottish actor (Elba and Richard Madden, respectively) to play North American characters. It would have been better to employ European agencies, instead of the worn-out presence of the CIA and its well-known intrusions in foreign territory. But, well... Bastille Day is co-produced by Amazon, so I comprehend the necessity of reinforcing the idea of the United States as a worldwide police which doesn't obey rules, but obtains results. In conclusion, it isn't a very memorable experience, but I can give a moderate recommendation to Bastille Day as a vacuous entertainment with the adequate doses of action and suspense to justify the investment of our time.