Director: James Watkins
Starring: Idris Elba, Richard Madden, Charlotte Le Bon, Kelly Reilly, José Garcia
With the constant debate about Elba running for the next Bond, I can't help but think this film is an application for Brit spy stardom. It's fast paced and the action is good though a little shaky and too rushed in parts. A lot happens in the 90mins
Elba does a good stubborn, angry CIA agent that goes renegade, turning Game of Thrones' Rob Stark Aka Richard Madden into his pickpocketing bitch, I mean asset and develops a 48hr Murphy/Nolte relationship. Elba's massive presence is made known hitting hard whilst Madden portrays the meek, accidental terrorist.
José Garcia's character French intelligence Victor, looked like he had be stylised by Tony Stark and isn't it ironic he was hypnotised robbing a French bank in Now You See Me and Sherlock Holmes/Flight star Kelly Reilly just didn't do enough. She shows here talent in her previous films but seemed like a half-hearted performance.
It's a shame the script wasn't as clever as the plot which was, for some parts, unpredictable; even though far fetched. The plot twists from a terrorist crisis into an elaborate bank heist. It's loaded with unbelievable, cliched heroics, a French Revolution; hence the film's title and some unnecessary violence that doesn't make sense. Bent cop seeking redemption in the form of millions of dollars (not euros oddly enough) because of losing fellow comrades in action, yet, he'll happily hang one of his own men.
It's spirals rapidly out of control as does Elba's character. There's some clever touches to the action and it's a good effort, I was entertained but nothing ground breaking.
Running Time: 8
The Cast: 6
Performance: 6
Direction: 6
Story: 6
Script: 3
Creativity: 5
Soundtrack: 6
Job Description: 6
The Extra Bonus Point: 0
52% 5/10
