It’s difficult to pinpoint what makes Bastille Day so disappointing – is it that it dances around some topical themes without making a comment? Or could it be that our “heroes” are so poorly developed that you’ll watch bemusedly as they bluster through Paris, leaving chaos in their wake, limping from one scene to the next on the back of a lot of happy coincidences?

No, the fatal error lies in Bastille Day’s severely flawed “reveal” – not so much a plot twist as a straight line, its cleverness is undermined by the fact that it was glaringly obvious from the outset.

The slow moments in Bastille outweigh any explosions, and unfortunately there aren’t enough laughs to save it. It’s not the worst film in the world, but it is painfully mediocre.

RATING: 2/5

INFORMATION

CAST: Idris Elba, Richard Madden, Kelly Riley

DIRECTOR: James Watkins

WRITER: Andrew Baldwin

SYNOPSIS: A skilled pickpocket (Madden) and a disgraced CIA agent (Elba) attempt to foil a terrorist plot in Paris on the eve of Bastille Day.