Directed by James Watkins (Eden Lake; The Woman in Black) and starring Idris Elba (Luther; Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom; The Jungle Book; Pacific Rim), Richard Madden (Cinderella; Complicity), Charlotte Le Bon (The Hundred-Foot Journey; Astérix and Obélix: God Save Britannia; Yves Saint Laurent) and Kelly Reilly (Sherlock Holmes; Flight; Eden Lake; Set Fire to the Stars).
Action, 92 mins, 12+, in English and French
American drop-out Michael Mason (Richard Madden) picks pockets in Paris where he is living, ensuring a distracction while he pounces; a couple of days before Bastille Day, he notices Zoe Naville (Charlotte Le Bon) who appears upset and he steals a bag she is carrying. Only when he discards the bag after stealing her phone, and the explosion from the bomb inside it kills others, does he realise what had been inside it.
A CIA cell in Paris, led by Karen Dacre (Kelly Reilly), plays cat-and-mouse with the Paris head of police, and gives Sean Briar (Idris Elba) the task of locating the American who photograph is caught on CCTV around the scene of the explosion. Briar catches up with Michael Mason who is dragged into the deadly chase, in the search for the Zoe who had been used as a mule to place the bomb. However, the real criminals are those who convinced Zoe to carry the explosives in the first place, but who are they? Zoe does not want to betray her boyfriend until they discover his true identity and realise he has not told her who he really is. The ultimate plot culminates on Bastille Day itself when the criminals are planning their main crime. But who are they and what are their motives?
A gripping action film, with a series of suspense and action waves, including an incredible chase across the rooftops of Paris, almost what one would expect from a Bond or Bourne film. Idris Elba plays a moody, reckless and maverick character who aims to get results by disregarding the rulebook, with Richard Madden's character finding himself out of his depth very quickly. Unfortunately, the chemisty of the two main characters does not gel too well on screen, but the action more than make up for this.
