Bastille Day, film review: Idris Elba plays action hero, again, in a Paris-set thriller

You'll want to see the tremendous rooftop chase

Still of Idris Elba and Richard Madden in Bastille Day (StudioCanal)

Bastille Day is a cheesy but enjoyable Paris set thriller which underlines Idrs Elba's fast rising credentials as an action hero. (He may never be cast as James Bond but he can surely step in when the venerable Liam Neeson finally decides his streetfighting days are over.) Elba plays Sean Briar, a “reckless and insubordinate” CIA agent. Rogue forces high up within the French police force are planning to bomb the city, blame it on terrorists, provoke riots and then to stage an audacious bank heist during the ensuing chaos.

Director James Watkins makes excellent use of its Paris locations. Early on, he stokes up the tension in a way that rekindles memories of old Hitchcock thrillers. The action scenes are staged with enough panache to disguise just how derivative they really are.

Among the highlights is a tremendous rooftop chase in which Elba goes after an American pickpocket (Richard Madden from Game Of Thrones). There is a beautiful French ingenue (Charlotte Le Bon) caught up in the plot. The longer the film progresses, the more its originality dissipates. By the final reel, the whiff of old fromage is overpowering.

James Watkins, 90 mins, starring: Idris Elba, Richard Madden, Charlotte Le Bon