Bastille Day

Granted, the inside bank heist plot is implausible in 'Bastille Day' (retitled 'The Take' for its USA release), but the director James Watson paces the film so well with non-stop tense moments, and taps Idris Elba's innate tension-building talents and ability to deliver quick dialogue (as he does with Sorkin's trademark banter in 'Molly's Game'), that one overlooks the spectacularly unrealistic story of the intended heist.

This is a pure entertainment escapism - an action film that does not pretend to be more than it is.

Therefore, I'm giving two thumbs up 👍👍 for a good fun-to-watch action flick. Grab a dish of popcorn and enjoy. Note my 7 Rating means it's good (like an 8 by most User standards).

Richard Madden and Jose Garcia are well-casted.

Is it just me that thinks Garcia looks and acts a lot like Harvey Kietel in his 30s?!

Normally I only watch 7.0 and above but I was tired of scrolling and gave it a try. Nice, undercover CIA movie with a decent amount of action.

I always use subtitles since I don't hear well.

The spoken English was subtitled, which was helpful, but the long spoken exchanges between the French police/tactical/intelligence was spoken in French, but NONE of the French dialog WAS TRANSLATED and SUBTITLED.

Maybe not a huge issue except that the 'good guys' had maybe ten pages of dialog between them. The French speakers provided about 80% of 'The Take's' total spoken word.

Now, Idris Elba is the caliber of actor who doesn't need to chatter in order to get his thoughts out.

Still, with the Strong, Silent Type in the lead, there was no way to follow the plot. When we thought we'd identified the villians, we had to watch and wait for another character's confirmation of events.

I don't know who's responsible for subtitles...but really, our phones can transcribe a spoken voice message. We can speak to lock our doors, turn off our lights, and play our favorite music.

#pleasefixsubtitles

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 ...

Ever wanted to know what happens when you mix 24, Bourne, Die Hard III, and Luther on a tight budget, and then you spice it all with a little Luc Besson? Then you have your answer right here.

It's a fast paced, no-nonsense action spy thriller, without a single piece of originality. But it manages to present all the borrowed bits and pieces in a way, to deliver a very entertaining experience.

The main character is almost a carbon copy of the title character in Luther, so Elba naturally revels in the role. They even managed to include one of my favorite lines from Luther, the little thieves. Which is funny since the second main character is actually a thief in this. Self irony maybe? The movie never slows down, not for a minute. I haven't seen anything like it for quite some time. There is less Neutral Gear in here, than in Luc Bessson's original Taxi.

Of course you shouldn't expect a masterpiece. The characters are all shallow, and the story is predictable. It doesn't even try to be clever, it just gives you everything at face value.