Atomik Circus - Le retour de James Bataille (2004)

Directors:

Didier Poiraud
Thierry Poiraud

Writers:

Jean-Phillippe Dugand (writer)
Marie Garrel Weiss (writer)

Release Date:

21 July 2004 (Belgium)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Horror | Music | Sci-Fi

Plot Keywords:

Decapitated Body | Dog | Agent | Rock Concert | Motorcycle

Cast

Vanessa Paradis	...	Concia
Jason Flemyng	...	James Bataille
Benoît Poelvoorde	...	Allan Chiasse
Jean-Pierre Marielle	...	Bosco
Venantino Venantini	...	Matt Kelso
Vincent Tavier	...	Chef Brody
Bouli Lanners	...	Chip
Jacky Lambert	...	Dips
Dominique Bettenfeld	...	Peter Cheval
Mar Sodupe	...	Kitty
Vincent Belorgey	...	Boon / Ricardo Bello-Radio Skotlett
Daniel Cohen	...	Peintre
Gaëtan Chataigner	...	Un membre des Perros Negros
Federico Pellegrini	...	Un membre des Perros Negros / Le narrateur
Stéphane Louvain	...	Un membre des Perros Negros

Also Known As:

Le retour de James Bataille (France) (working title)
The Return of James Battle (USA)

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

France | Germany | UK

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital EX

Certification:

Germany:16 | France:-12 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud)

Filming Locations:

Cologne, North Rhine - Westphalia, Germany

Company:

MMC Independent

Trivia:

Initially, the role of Bosco should have been played by Jean Yanne who began to work on the movie. But when he died in May 2003, the directors asked Jean-Pierre Marielle to take the role, and he accepted, partly because Jean Yanne was one of his friends.

Even if you like this type of stuff, you still may not like it.

Story revolves around an escaped, die-hard romantic stuntman, a small-town singer, a sleazy businessman, a slow-witted villager who hurts his dog so he can hear it sing, and oh yeah, an alien invasion. Honestly this sounds like a pretty sweet flick. But for some reason, it just doesn't succeed in any particular area.

Atomik Circus features some good acting, especially by the dude who was the lead in Man Bites Dog, Benoit Poelvoorde. He was actually pretty memorable as the sleazy businessman who ends up suffering from an alien bite. Also, I had no clue Jason Flemyng could speak French. He didn't have really long lines, so maybe he just jumped on board because it seemed like an easy and fun role....that was probably it.

The movie had a weird vibe that reminded me of the movie Undead. Probably because it had a similar style, especially with the blood and gore. Atomik Circus had a real cooky vibe that felt like it was trying too hard to amuse the viewer. At times I was amused, by the over-the-top violence, but never really by anything jokey. The dude with the missing face, that completely fell flat.

Atomik Circus is a weird flick, and I can see many people enjoying it, and many people hating it. I'm in the middle ground because there were some good things about it, but overall it just kinda felt like a jumbled mess. Definitely a unique genre hybrid though, that's for sure. 5.5 outta 10