Frankly, this film had me sold at Idris Elba. I'd watch a film of him reading the menu from his local Chinese takeaway, so I'm hopelessly biased, and have been since the Stringer Bell days of The Wire.
Anyway: the plot. It's way better than a takeaway menu. And there's no MSG, just plenty of thrills and spills. Could've done with a little more meat though.
Michael Mason (Richard Madden, Robb Stark in Game of Thrones) is an American pickpocket living in Paris who finds himself a suspected terrorist in the sights of the CIA when he steals a bag that he soon discards - no booty - only for it to explode and kill innocent people.
Richard Madden looks a valid candidate to replace Daniel Craig as 007
Sean Briar (the aforementioned Idris Elba) is the field agent on the case, and he soon realizes that Mason is just a pawn in a much bigger game and is also his best asset in terms of uncovering a large-scale criminal conspiracy that's at the very heart of the French police force.
Going against orders from above – he's a bit of a maverick is Sean - Briar believes and then recruits Mason to help quickly track down the source of the corruption.
It's a bit of a Bourne-lite adventure, and at times it makes Star Wars look like a documentary, but the slick pace and fine chemistry between the two leads make it a hugely enjoyable yarn that only a humourless chin-wagging cinema snob could fail to find entertaining. Plus, at 92 minutes, there's no messing around.
Popcorn and fizz essential.
