muons
A charming pickpocket, a CIA agent with unorthodox practices and a bunch of villains who can mysteriously infiltrate swat teams pretty much tell what the movie is all about. The one dimensional, dispassionate, taciturn antihero character initially looked funny with Arny starring in Terminator movies and alike. However, when others (Van Damme, Rock, etc.) started to mimic the same wooden acting style, they looked and became outright boring. In this cheesy action movie, the "cool", disinterested acting of Idris Elba evokes the same bad feelings. The plot is so predictable that the pace of the unfolding events always lags behind your guess. This is an action movie that I fell asleep in the last 20 min. or so. The only good thing about it is some nice Paris scenes in the background.
cinemajesty
Actor Idris Elba comes prepared in attitude and action beats for this short-lived terror thriller set in Paris, France directed by James Watkins, who found success by a chilling-executed "The Woman In Black" (2012). Nevertheless with this so-called action thriller, the director and his star can not raise the memento to come out with a blast of endorphin, when the curtain drops."The Take (aka Bastille Day)" is a feast for a stunt professionally trained stunt unit. CIA agent Sean Briar, performed by Idris Elba, gets plenty of action scenes, where he integrates seamlessly with pyro-techniques and cold steel weaponry. His sidekick, portrayed by Richard Madden, who seems confident in one scene and lost in the next, does make me feel that he had been overthrown by the task to perform for the character of big-time pickpocket Michael Mason, which clearly distracts the picture in suspense situations.Director James Watkins gets plenty of coverage for his 20 Million U.S. dollar budget. But he has been reckless with his characters' evolution, which are non-existent by the end. Each and every character seem to live on with no sacrifices made or on the other side has been terminated as the majority of the supporting parts as so actress Kelly Reilly, in an unforgiving underdeveloped part with not a single emotional beat shared, and further actor José Garcia, as the unlikely antagonist, who has not have one beat of hostility to make the final confrontation with Idris Elba's character in any case thrilling or at least compelling.What is left of "The Take (aka Bastille Day)" is the overall pacing for an ninety minute action movie, an superb executed out of context man chase over the roofs of Paris and reloading pistol as machine gun clips, which excited as the uncompromising treatment by actor Idris Elba onto the character Sean Briar, who clearly directed himself with no smile given to come out "Last Man Standing" in a otherwise mediocre production.© 2017 Felix Alexander Dausend (Cinemajesty Entertainments LLC)
tntula
while the movie is fairly good and keeps your attention with non-stop action.... the location usage is ridiculous to anyone who has been to Paris... take for example the chase scene... first it starts at what appears to be around the 16th Arr, and then suddenly he jumps through a window and is now near les halles and hotel de ville.. and then when he runs though les halles and he exits and gets caught, he suddenly is kilometers away in the suburbs near mairie de lilas metro at a small covered outdoor market.. lol.... .. other are just as ridiculous... ...
richard-1787
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.