That was an excellent one.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Michael Mason (Richard Madden) is an American pickpocket in Paris, thieving to make a living.A case he steals goes off as it contained a bomb. Now he is hunted by the French police and a CIA agent based in the city, Sean Briar (Idris Elba.)They uncover a conspiracy at play to blame Muslims for the bombing atrocities while anti fascist protesters campaign against police brutality.The Take is a routine but underwhelming thriller. There are a few twists that involve corrupt cops but Elba is wasted as the maverick CIA agent who is frankly a bit dull.The film also has too many British actors playing Americans, surely the producers could afford some genuine American actors!

There isn't much of anything to this movie, other than a lot of fast action, with the usual "collateral damage." Idris Elba is an actual actor, but he has no material to act with here. So, for that matter, is Thierry Godard, one of the leads in the French TV series Un Village français, but here he gets nothing at all.Every now and then there are allusions to current politics in French - the National Front, etc. - but they don't go anywhere, and are not explained.Not much is done with the Paris setting. No pleasant scenes in the Eiffel Tower restaurants, or along the banks of the Seine, etc.There is no point in summarizing the plot, such as it is, because it's not very interesting. Suffice it to say that, when all is said and done, this is actually about an impossible bank holdup.If you decide to watch this movie - and I can't imagine why you would - watch it late at night when your mind has shut down and doesn't catch all the holes in the plot.

A young pickpocket and a unorthodox CIA agent find themselves working together to prevent another terrorist attack in France.Tragic real life terrorist events caused Bastille Day to be renamed The Take in the UK and events sent it somewhat into obscurity with the marketing toned down. Director James Watkins offers a well thought- out action thriller in the vein of Die Hard and the best of Luc Besson. The Take is a surprising piece of entertainment with a few twists thrown in for good measure in what could have been a simple frustrating actioner. Not only are the action fight setups impressive writer Andrew Baldwin's story cleverly gives a broad stroke insight into terrorism, activists and corruption. Even with its shootouts, punch ups and chases it's not action for action sake, it is plot driven.The characters are shades of grey, packed with screen presence Idris Elba is on fine form as hardened agent Sean Briar. Richard Madden (of Game of Thrones fame) is pickpocket Michael who is at the wrong place at the wrong time and who gets accused of being a bomber gives a solid performance. The array of supporting actors especially the bad guys are quiet developed and add some weight to the story. Notable are memorable José Garcia as Victor and Thierry Godard's Rafi.It's no Leon or Bourne but it's up in the the action thriller scale of the likes of London has Fallen, From Paris with Love, but the on location feel to the underside of the French capitol to Watkins' credit gives the film its own unique look and down to earth credence compared to the latter. The Take has characters that you can care about tide up in a very compelling yarn.Overall, it's well filmed and entertaining, hopefully it'll find itself with a sequel as the chemistry dynamic of the selfless subtle two leads works well. Predicable at times but recommended.

If you like Paris, as I do, the film looks great and gives you the travel bug. The plot was very good. I was surprised. CIA meets pickpocket, and of course, he picks the wrong pocket. I thought they developed the pickpocket's character well, not so much Idris' character, but it still worked. The action scenes are well done and the editing is not bad. Usually on the lower budget movies, editing or sound suffers. That is not the case here. A bigger budget this would have been a hit in America as well.7 stars.