Europa Corp | France | 101 mins
In 2006, with District 13’s American audience debut, very little was known about parkour in the mainstream. We watched on in awe at what seemed like urban ballet. The free-flowing and streaming body motions that seem to never lose momentum were a refreshing new addition to the action genre and martial arts genre. The film itself wasn’t that great at all but this new mysterious art named parkour, that at times seems physically impossible, forgave all manners of acting, script and film making sins.
The director of District 13, Pierre Morel, has a solid aptitude for fast paced and tightly executed action sequences and following the quiet and moderate, yet tangible, success of the first District 13 installment, moved on to direct Taken. District 13: Ultimatum, with the help of director Patrick Allessandrin and writer/producer Luc Besson, did not have that same shot in the dark luck.
The crime laden district in the Parisian ghetto is still enclosed by a wall and the intensity of the gangs has increased substantially. Framed as cop killers, the inhabitants of D13 are in danger of being completely eliminated in hopes of developing D13 into a more profitable and respectable district of Paris — cue the hero/criminals that will justly and brutally save the day.
D13: Ultimatum runs close to 25 minutes longer than its much more brisk and flowing predecessor. Unable to invest in the replayed footage and awkward protracted speeches given by the various gang leaders throughout the movie, the audience is constantly waiting for the next action sequence. This rhythm of action film making cheapens the, albeit very impressive and engaging, action sequences. The audience’s attention is dragged through the dirt in a jarring fashion from the peaks and valleys of content delivered by Alessandrin. Completely lacking in the excitement and charisma of the D13, I found myself doing in the constant watch check routine.
Ultimately, I think if the talking, strange political statements and general boring bullshit was removed and the remaining pure parkour action scenes were compiled into a 25 minute mash up video I would have enjoyed District 13: Ultimatum far more than I did. Mix the parkour exhibitions into a well made film that has other things to offer (Casino Royale) or just make a freaking YouTube video.
4 out of 10
Check out the trailer for the highlights of the film: