Review: Bastille Day
Anyone who's ever seen Idris Elba as Detective Chief Inspector John Luther in the British television crime drama Luther knows full well what a darkly magnetic, physically imposing and brusquely no-nonsense performer the East Londoner is. So it's no small wonder that, with Daniel Craig about to vacate as James Bond, that fans have been clamouring for Elba to be the next 007. Bastille Day may well be a preview of Elba as Bond in much the same way as Layer Cake served as an audition reel of sorts for Craig. Efficient and entertaining, Bastille Day covers roughly 48 very tense hours in Paris that begins with a bomb accidentally tossed onto a sidewalk in Pigalle and causing the death of four innocent civilians. The bomb was meant for the headquarters of the French Nationalist Party, but young radical Zoe (Charlotte Le Bon) had decided against carrying out the plan only for her bag, containing the teddy bear in which the bomb was hidden, to be pickpocketed by American runaway Michael Mason (Richard Madden), who becomes the object of a citywide terrorist manhunt when his face is caught on several surveillance cameras.
Enter Briar, a "reckless, insubordinate and irresponsible" CIA agent heading up a secret CIA investigation. He's meant to track and retrieve Mason before the French interior ministry led by Victor Gamieux (José Garcia) realises that the Americans are conducting their own separate investigation into terrorist activities. Both Briar and Mason soon become targets not only for the French police but also for the terrorist group who were using Zoe as a mule and are now aiming to do away with the distressed young woman. Briar must now protect himself, Mason and Zoe while trying to thwart the group's plan to wreak havoc during the Bastille Day celebrations.
There's a great deal to admire about Bastille Day, not least of which are the action set pieces staged by director James Watkins, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Andrew Baldwin. These set pieces possess a spatial integrity and they sustain the momentum without sacrificing actual sense, which is actually a very rare thing to pull off on a limited budget. It's difficult not to applaud the initial chase scene that commences on the steep and sloping rooftops of Paris, continues through a congested indoor market, and then ends on a bluntly comic note amidst crowded outdoor stalls. A fight between half a dozen characters in the back of a moving van once again demonstrates Watkins' deftness of touch as well as Tim Maurice-Jones crisp cinematography and Jon Harris' oh-so-precise editing. The craftsmanship is highly commendable.
Equally laudable is the script, which is lean and focused until the third act when it takes on a bit of flab in both the plotting and dialogue. Still, even when characters' back stories are spotlighted, they are done so in a just-the-facts-ma'am directness, which prevents the story from getting bogged down in unnecessary psychology and sentimentality. Elba and Madden make for a fine team - the latter's puppyish mannerisms at odds with the former's act-first-ask-questions-never mentality. Le Bon makes a strong impression though Kelly Reilly, whom Watkins put through the most severe paces in his brutal horror drama Eden Lake (which co-starred Michael Fassbender and Jack O'Connell), is wasted in a supporting role.
Bastille Day
Directed by: James Watkins
Written by: James Watkins, Andrew Baldwin
Starring: Idris Elba, Richard Madden, Charlotte Le Bon, Kelly Reilly, José Garcia, Anatol Yusef, Thierry Godard
