Elba has the Jason Statham role of “reckless, insubordinate” CIA Agent Briar, hot on the heels of a guy his agency and the French have identified as a terrorist. Is there no end to Idris' talent; not only did he star in this film but he also sang the closing song. Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Still, there is that bonus, rolling under the closing credits, Elba doing his best Barry White/The Temptations. In the opener, the old mis-direction play — a hustler (Richard Madden) hires a beautiful woman to walk naked through a crowd of Paris tourists, who turn their attention and cell phones on her and not on the guy pulling their watches, wallets and passports. Film reviews and news, everyone's a critic! Movie Review: “Edge of Seventeen” blows out “Sixteen Candles”, Movie Review: Idris Elba shoots, and sings in “The Take”, Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news, Netflixable? Cookies help us deliver our Services. A bigger asshole than Tiger Woods? The Take is a smart thriller that features as vintage an Idris Elba performance as any. Informed film criticism, against the grain –since 1984. Travelling or based outside United Kingdom? Get your screenplay showcased at the Writing Festival. "We're running the city down," he growls. © 1996-2020, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. Video availability outside of United Kingdom varies. And Madden (he was Prince Charming in the recent “Cinderella,” and stars in “Medici: Masters of Florence” on TV) is the sidekick “with potential,” the guy who gets the “This is CRAZY. Netflix has got you covered. Good action film with some humerous bits. Kelly Reilly (“Flight”) is Briar’s immediate superior, the one who turns him loose. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. That includes appearing character-driven streamers (Netflix's Beasts of No Nation), award-winning small screen series (HBO's The Wire, BBC's Luther), and big screen blockbusters (Marvel's Thor trilogy, Pacific Rim, Hobbs & Shaw). Jose Garcia is the French Intelligence chief who seems a step too slow to get to the bottom of all this. Sean Briar (Idris Elba - Luther, Prometheus), the CIA agent on the case, soon realises that Michael is just a pawn in a much bigger game and is also his best asset to uncover a large-scale conspiracy. Elba’s action credentials are well-established, so there’s little for him to prove here. ", Movie Review: Witches lose their teeth in “The Craft: Legacy”, Documentary Review: A fight to save his pregnant addict girlfriend — “Higher Love”, Netflixable? It nicely complements a movie… Frost, Pegg & Co. seek ghosts and laughs as “Truth Seekers”, Action/Adventure Film & Screenplay Festival, Movie Review: Witches lose their teeth in “The Craft:@. I don’t work for the CIA” line. There is rather a lot of 'very quick' fighting that you loose because it is so quick and does look quite trite. Who wouldn’t? Charlotte Le Bon (“The 100 Foot Journey”) is the radical French lass mixed up with bomb throwers. It's been many, many years since you murdered English accents generally, London ones especially and East End Cockney specifically in Mare-ree Poppings. That's exactly the sort of character Elba plays in the action-thriller The Take, which is currently finding a fervent audience on Netflix. Select the department you want to search in. Fantastic action movie. We use cookies and similar tools to enhance your shopping experience, to provide our services, understand how customers use our services so we can make improvements, and display ads. I am really pleased I bought this dvd,its action packed from start to finish.Idris is excellent and so is Richard Madden as the pickpocket who stole the wrong bag,theres also a good twist towards the end,well worth getting,glad I did. Yeah, Elba is a pretty imposing dude, especially when he’s not singing. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 2 November 2017. It was non-stop exciting action from the get go and never stopped. And just for the sake of transparency, you should know Molly's Game boasts virtually none of the explosive action or fisticuffs as The Take. "American Pie Presents: 'Girls' Rules", Series Preview: Chess, madness and sex appeal -- "The Queen’s Gambit", Movie Review: Kathie Lee and Craig, together again, "Then Came You", Movie Review: Does Stephen King's lawyer know about "The Luring? “Have you SEEN yourself?”. But if one fact remains true of Elba's screen work, it's that the actor excels at portraying charming, physically imposing, and fiercely intelligent official types who aren't afraid to twist a rule or two to meet their desired ends. Sign in to see videos available to you. The two lightest moments are about picking pockets. And if it isn't, well, Elba's commanding turn as Defense Attorney Charles Jaffey will be more than enough to hold your gaze — not to mention the fiery work of his co-star Jessica Chastain, who portrays the titular femme in Molly's Game. And before one runs his movie down, a pause, please, for just how retro and lyrical that phrase is. Sean Briar (Idris Elba - Luther, Prometheus), the CIA agent on the case, soon realises that Michael is just a pawn in a much bigger game and is also his best asset to uncover a large-scale conspiracy. What? A few years ago, Idris Elba and Game of Thrones star Richard Madden starred in an action/spy thriller called The Take (or Bastille Day) that had a … And then there’s a brutal brawl that the guy the French call “The American” (Elba) punches his way out of a French paddy wagon, and a riot cleverly and bravely manipulated into a rescue mission. Now, he’s being hunted by the real bombers, the French cops and the CIA. Filipino teen parents are "Ordinary People (Pamilya Ordinaryo)" on the streets of Manila, Netflixable? Suspend every bit of disbelief you've got if you want to sit through this French attempt at an American CIA thriller, in which an American pickpocket gets mixed up in a dastardly Parisian terror plot with a quickly revealed twist (and a later one you can easily guess yourself). Yeah, that's Idris Elba, the film's star, crooning the title tune -- "The Road Less Traveled." The Idris Elba crime drama fans of The Take should watch. Another winning moment, Michael, our American wallet-lifter shows just how much mayhem a pickpocket can create in a bar, when he needs to. The fight scene in the van was awesome - don't want to give too much away but you'll know it when you see it. Prime members enjoy fast & free shipping, unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows with Prime Video and many more exclusive benefits. Credits:Directed by James Watkins, script by Andrew Baldwin and James Watkins. Keeping an eye on all the latest mainstream films and television. Briar has to punch, shoot and head-butt his way through half of Paris in pursuit of the “real” terrorists, who say they’re planning something big for Bastille Day. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. After a suspected bomb attack, CCTV footage picks up Michael Mason (Richard Madden - Game of Thrones) at the scene. Try again. Even if the film isn't fueled by gunplay and set pieces, Sorkin's scorching dialogue alone should be fuel enough to keep your blood pumping for the entirety of its 140-minute runtime. Surviving the Norwegian Apocalypse -- "Cadaver (Kadaver)", Netflixable? Not sure the end theme tune with IE singing will rocket him to through the charts, but stranger things have happened. And before one runs his movie down, a pause, please, for just how retro and lyrical that phrase is. He runs the minute he spies Briar. British Talent Wasted in Silly French Thriller, Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 8 September 2018. And if you're wondering what Molly's Game is all about, well, it really is about a game. Some of the film is a bit far fetched - like protesters breaking down the front door of the French National Bank! “We’re running the city down,” he growls. All 23 songs from the The Take (2016) movie soundtrack, with scene descriptions. It's difficult to see how Richard Madden and Idris Elba managed to keep straight faces as the unlikely action unfolds, though British director James Watkins - a long way from Eden Lake and The Woman in Black - keeps it cracking along so you don't have time to think too hard and British cinematographer Tim Maurice-Jones makes Paris look fantastic. I did doubt that he could do an American accent but it is not as bad as I thought. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 15 May 2020, Crash, bang wallop...Great full on action film with Idris Elba doing what he does best, putting things, Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 21 November 2018. Matters take a turn for the unexpected when the agent discovers the prime suspect in the attack (Madden's street-wise pickpocket) had not a clue he was even a part of it, and that a far more sinister plot is afoot that leads all the way to key members of the French Interior Ministry. Connoisseurs of B-pictures will note the similarity to any of a dozen Jason Statham action movies, where more effort is put into fights than into character, dialogue or plot. A not bad film, well worth the watch. Rentals include 30 days to start watching this video and 48 hours to finish once started. Get your short film showcased at the FEEDBACK Film Festival. Those are the only clever turns in this otherwise generic action script by Andrew Baldwin and director and co-writer James Watkins. Chastain's Molly Bloom is actually the star of the show here. ", Movie Review: A grieving obsessive-compulsive falls under an Icelandic "Spell", Movie Review: A Philippines serial killer hides in "Smaller and Smaller Circles" as priests close in, Documentary Review: "The Phenomenon" revisits UFOdom's Greatest Hits, Netflixable? Satan tees one up. Unfortunately, Idris Elba was not the Oscar-nominated party from Molly's Game. A Trump quid pro quo? But Andrew Baldwin's screenplay is shamelessly hackneyed, seemingly aimed at 14-year-old boys (it opens with a long sequence featuring a naked woman), and Elba as the CIA agent has to crack a lot of skulls and pop a lot of caps to make up for it.