Bastille Day
Director: James Watkins
Stars: Idris Elba, Richard Madden, Charlotte Le Bon
Duration: 92 mins
Class: 15
KRS Releasing Ltd
Bastille Day is a run-of-the-mill action thriller elevated slightly out of its run-of-the-mill-ness thanks to charismatic performances from Idris Elba as a reckless CIA agent and Richard Madden as a pickpocket, both caught up in a terrorist conspiracy that unfolds on Paris’s streets.
Madden’s Michael Mason finds himself in a bit of a mess when the latest bag he steals contains much more than what he expected, and events spin out of control to the point he becomes the prime suspect in a fatal terrorist attack. Though initially sceptical, Agent Sean Briar (Elba) soon realizes Mason really is innocent, and the couple team up to take down the bad guys as the authorities face numerous protests around the city provoked by the attack, while simultaneously preparing for the eponymous celebrations.
Given the buddy movie tropes have been recycled ad nauseum, in Elba and Madden we have a mismatched coupling that works because both invest more in their respective roles than what is sketched by their respective character outlines – the tough but flawed cop and good-hearted petty criminal, and the sparks fly from the outset once the two get together. When Mason is finally apprehended by Briar, who demands to know why he ran from him, Mason asks indignantly, “have you seen yourself?!” – setting the tone for their perfectly for their unlikely partnership.
A highly kinetic slice of action, entertaining enough to spice up a couple of hours of your free time
For Elba is always a striking, hulking presence, taking out bad guys with ease; but the consummate actor makes him more than a just brutal, reckless law enforcement officer. Sure, oftentimes he shoots or punches first then asks questions later, but in Elba’s rendition there are shades of a man fighting the good fight for justice, unorthodox methods notwithstanding; and his growing fondness for his newfound sidekick is played out with gruff and droll irritation, the actor oftentimes saying volumes with the raising of an eye.
His commanding presence projects intelligence, not just physicality, and there is no doubt that this is the guy you want fighting your corner when things get violent – those James Bond rumours are not for nothing.
Madden perfectly nails the hapless petty criminal, a man caught up in events that are too hot to handle, yet who dives in to fight for justice when called upon. His good looks and twinkling eyes make it easy enough for us to forget he preys on innocent people with his purloining of their belongings, but it’s really not the kind of film trying to make any moral statements; and compared to the really bad guys – corrupt, violent rotters to the core – he’s an angel. Said rotters are led by Thierry Godard as the glowering tough nut Rafi.
The female characters don’t fare as well, however. Both Charlotte le Bon’s Zoe, a woman misguided by love and unwittingly embroiled in events she doesn’t truly grasp and Kelly Reilly’s agent Dacre, Briar’s CIA superior are underwritten and underused.
While the characters are a tad rote and the script obvious, director James Watkins maintains tight tension and a snappy pace with a series of breakneck action on Paris streets with shootouts, car and foot chases – one particular highlight an exciting heady chase across some rooftops – and some bloody fist-to-fist brawls and a final sequence that is genuinely thrilling.
Although its release may still touch a raw nerve with its proximity to the recent attacks in Paris, Bastille Day also attempts some gravitas with its topical subject, skirting briefly on some serious political issues with its racial undertones, hints of corruption in high places, popular protests and depiction of the general disenchantment of ordinary people. Yet, overall, it does not aspire to be something more than it’s not – a highly kinetic slice of action, entertaining enough to spice up a couple of hours of your free time.