Sadly Over-hyped

Excellent but underrated film

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Highly enjoyable action movie. Great fights, stunts and a good story which lead to a satisfying ending. Even after all this, I still prefer the first movie, because it introduced us to Parkour. Few years later, Parkour is popular the world over and it's because of films like this and Casino Royale. The first movie had arguably the best action sequences I'd seen for a long time, so it's no surprise for a sequel to pop up, which cranks up the action. Good performances, especially from the two leads, who have the right chemistry for this action comedy. Both Belle and Raffaelli are chief practitioners in the art of Parkour, but also show that they're pretty adept at acting too. I hope they make a third movie because it would be great to see these guys on screen together again. One of the better movies of the year unsurprisingly and I say that because I knew what to expect whilst watching this film and I wasn't disappointed. All in all a fun action movie, that many will enjoy, I know I did.

...BUT through some really bizarre circumstances I think this may end up being a guilty pleasure of mine. This is one of those movies that is so tongue-in-cheek and over-the-top that it actually makes way for some really funny scenes. I guess it was intentional but even in the realms of that it's still a guilty pleasure (How do you do that again?).The plot of this movie is that the leader of a French special forces group has this EVIL plan up his sleeve to clear a district where criminals are. He does this by a pretty elaborate scheme but 2 people - a cop and a criminal who do stunts so over-the-top The Matrix would call "bullshit" on them find out about the plan and get the leaders of every gang to leave District 13 and stop the evil guy.Okay, let me describe to you what kind of movie you're in for with how a character from this movie handles a bomb. Does he cut the wires? Does he run away? Does he throw the bomb out the nearest window or something like that? NO! He tells his colleagues about it and they send down a heavy dome made of metal and he covers the bomb with it and lies down on top of it and once it blows up it only moves the dome about a foot in the air and the ground has not been damaged in the slightest. If you can't laugh at something THIS stupid then this movie will have no entertainment value in it whatsoever.Okay onto legitimate complaints (I know! I'm going to mention what I think is wrong with this movie) Okay the over-the-top scenes are fun to watch there is some time spent with people talking. I mean it there are quite a few scenes that do this. I want to see how the French try and top Army Of Darkness in terms of stupidly entertaining crap.And there's the ending. Okay so you have these people try and stop this guy from blowing up the place they call home. Okay that's something I can get behind. Okay so they beat the bad guy by passing him through about 5 different guys hitting him and flipping their hair at him that has a knife at the end of it (don't question what you're reading it'll make my review faster!) So what happens after that? They decide to carry out the villain's plan! I am not even close to kidding. The movie ends with the heroes doing what the villain wanted from the get-go.Okay so if you want a non-art-house introduction to foreign cinema to get used to reading subtitles then check this movie out. It is by far one of the most over-the-top movies I have ever seen in my life and through that it brings a charm to it that movies like Army Of Darkness (Although this isn't as... enjoyable as Army Of Darkness) shares with it. If you're looking for an entertaining piece of sh!t that can easily be considered the cinematic equivalent of junk food then this is for you.

This exciting flick contains nail-biting action , thrills , spectacular scenes and plot twists . Thrilling and violent movie with a phenomenal starring pair and in which Cyril Raffaelli and David Belle cast all the Stuntmen themselves . Set in the rundown ghettos of Paris in 2010, an undercover cop and an ex-thug try to infiltrate into a police precinct and Palace of President in order to save their barrios when some enemies are bent on destroying the five tower blocks at the heart of District 13 with tactical precision bombing . Once upon again Damien (Cyril Raffaelli) and Leito (David Belle , the originator of Le Parkour) are reunited upon to avoid a bombing on destroying the blocks at the heart of District 13 and save the city . They have to confront a nasty Police Chief from the Department of Internal State Security (DISS), and even Le Président De la République (Philippe Torreton) . With acrobatic skillfulness and adrenaline pumping belief in their own abilities, they throw themselves out from incredible heights, and jump from roof to roof ; locked doors and 'No Trespassing' signs become irresistible challenges . They face off their enemies in order to avoid the total destruction their district as Damien and Leïto convince the five gang lords to band together to prevent it when the president authorizing the strike . ¨13th District : ultimatum ¨ is an amazing film that packs suspense , thrills, noisy action , shootouts and violent fights . The main couple is unabashed in its dedication to fanboy stunt work . From the beginning to the final the noisy action and fast movement is unstopped , including breathtaking scenes in which bounds and leaps through apartments blocks and at moments give the impression that they are flying . Cyril Raffaelli as a hard-rock , two-fisted agent is top-notch . This is a frantic rehash of ¨Escape from NY¨ , rightly realized in French style . The highlights of the movie are The Parkour , also known in USA as Free Running whose origin was in ¨Yamasaki¨ film directed by Ariel Zeitoun , Julien Seri and also produced by Luc Besson with his production company called ¨EuropaCorps¨ . Duo protagonist more than make up for in an skill to soar across a rolling medley highrise flats blocks . The way in which the actors prove this abilities , is in fact an activity called Parkour and was invented by David Belle himself , influenced by his father Raymond Belle . Cyril Raffaelli also choreographed all the fight sequences ; however David Belle didn't practice all his Parkour stunts , most of the ones that you see in the film were of him performing the stunt for the first time .Cyril Raffaelli and David Belle had three months to prepare all their Parkour stunts for the film . There weren't any special effects , wire-work, computer graphics... used in 90% of the Parkour scenes .The film was at the subject of a controversy when writer/producer Luc Besson accused cinema chain UGC in the French media of boycotting the film by not showing it in their Parisian suburbs cinemas, and thus trying to stop its intended audience from seeing it. UGC replied that they felt their distribution for the film was up to par and that in any case it wasn't Besson's business to decide which cinemas should or should not carry the film. Good and atmospheric cinematography using Steadicam and zooms with numerous locations from Paris slums ; however set in Paris, some of the film was shot in Serbia. The musician Da Octopuss creates a stirring, moving soundtrack fitting to frantic action . Lavishly produced by the successful French producer and director Luc Besson . The flick was stunningly realized by Patrick Alessandrin though Alexandre Aja and Pierre Morel (who took a break from filming ¨From Paris with love¨ to come visit the set in Paris) were originally hired to direct the movie the first . Filmmaker Alessandrin gives the action a dance-like quality and the whole movie lasted 14 weeks for production , idea, script, casting, filming, etc . Rating: Better than average, well worth seeing , this is a highly agreeable follow-up . The picture will appeal to explosive action fans

This French film is the sequel to the equally French film, District 13 (2004), which, unfortunately, I have not seen. The setting is Paris in the not too distant future, 2013 according to the subtitles, where District 13 has been walled off from the rest of the French capital. It seems that the government has forgotten the people that live there who have split into factions and live outside the law.A cop, Capt. Damien Tomaso, has been framed by a government run unit called DISS, headed by the rather nasty Walter Gassman. There is a plot to evacuate District 13 so a new development can be built for the rich. The plot is uncovered by Damien's friend, Leïto, who helps him escape from police custody. Now on the run, the pair has to unite the factions in District 13 in order to thwart the governments plan. But time is running out.As I said at the beginning, I have not seen the original film, District 13, so I can't judge whether this is better or not. It's certainly well made with some really exciting fight sequences and some really great free running. Good performances from all of the major cast, Cyril Raffaelli as Capt. Damien Tomaso, David Belle as Leïto, Philippe Torreton as Le président de la République and Daniel Duval as Walter Gassman.Quite an enjoyable film to watch, but it did seem to lack a little depth. A lot of the characters seemed a bit one-dimensional. If nothing else, it's worth watching for the fight sequences and the free running, some of this stuff is really outstanding. I hear the first film is better but I'll be able to judge when I've seen it. Over all, pretty entertaining although the story line is a little simplistic, but still, recommended.My score: 6.8/10