Bastille Day

Even as a pickpocket, you should be careful what you steal. Young American Michael Mason (Richard Madden) has to learn this lesson in a particularly drastic way when he grabs the backpack of a young woman (Charlotte Le Bon) in Paris. For inside the bag is a bomb that was supposed to blow up a vacant office. But now the explosive device goes off in a busy square and Michael is targeted by the secret services as a suspected assassin. So it doesn't take long until he runs into the rough-around-the-edges CIA agent Sean Briar (Idris Elba). However, he quickly realizes that Michael is no terrorist and that the real masterminds of the attack are still at large - and possibly planning something much bigger. Suddenly, the agent and the pickpocket find themselves in the middle of a large-scale conspiracy that only together can they get out of alive.

After two successful forays into the horror genre (Eden Lake, The Woman in Black), director James Watkins now tries his hand at an action thriller with Bastille Day. Craft-wise, the film is solidly directed. The action sequences are fast-paced and especially a car chase over the rooftops of Paris provides some decent adrenaline rushes. Add to that the very engaging screen presence of Idris Elba, who manages to infuse even flat one-liners with extreme cool. When Elba strikes verbally or physically, the film has a higher entertainment value than the script actually deserves.

Because dramaturgically Bastille Day now truly does not play in the first league. The mixture of conspiracy thriller, buddy action and heist movie is full of clichés, deep logic holes and very stenciled characters. It doesn't really offer anything more than solidly average fare. But the fast-paced staging, occasionally lightened up with some humor, as well as the charisma of Idris Elba can fortunately counteract this effectively. Elba and Richard Madden, who became famous through Game of Thrones, make a good team, which provides for some really entertaining moments. Sure, there's not really anything original in there either. But what the two deliver works very well within the clearly defined boundaries of this genre, which is why a high recognition value and hackneyed phrases are absolutely bearable.

Since Bastille Day doesn't try to be more than entertaining popcorn entertainment that wants to offer its intended target audience an enjoyable visit to the cinema, the film should also be evaluated exactly under this aspect. So, despite numerous justified criticisms and some really bad dialogue, the bottom line is a very clear conclusion: here is delivered what is promised and for this there is then also a clear worth seeing!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp