The Return of James Battle (2004)
"Atomik Circus - Le retour de James Bataille" (original title)

James Bataille escapes from prison to find his fiancée Concia. But on his return, octopussy like aliens come to play bloody spoilsport. After lucky battle James and Concia escape to parallel world.

Directors:

Didier Poiraud, Thierry Poiraud

Writers:

Jean-Phillippe Dugand, Marie Garrel Weiss,

Stars:

Vanessa Paradis, Jason Flemyng, Benoît Poelvoorde

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

James Bataille escapes from prison to find his fiancée Concia. But on his return, octopussy like aliens come to play bloody spoilsport. After lucky battle James and Concia escape to parallel world.

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Plot Keywords:

decapitated body | dog | agent | rock concert | motorcycle | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Horror | Music | Sci-Fi

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

France Germany UK

Language:

French

Release Date:

21 July 2004 (France)

Also Known As:

The Return of James Battle

Filming Locations:

Cologne, North Rhine - Westphalia, Germany

Box Office

Budget:

€14,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$263,261 (France) (30 July 2004)

Gross:

$1,328,321 (Europe) (30 July 2004)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Entropie Films, MMC Independent, Invicta Filmworks Limited

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital EX

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

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.

User Reviews

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