District 13: Ultimatum (2010)

I watched this movie some weeks ago and noted it was showing on TV again. As the description referred to another movie with the same characters, I opened the IMD to read the plot to ensure it was not the one I had seen. I found it was the one I had seen and it received a very low score from fellow IMDb members. I think it is undeserving of such a low mark, yes it is an action movie which is not everyone's cup of tea, and I do not watch the standard beef/hemen that churn out action movie after action movie etc etc with little aptitude for acting or even a decent script.This movie was action however it was done with a little more flair than the average, it had a believable story of the future that seems all too real the way the world is going and the two lead actors were very believable and fit to say the least.It was a very pleasurable movie to watch, no it is not going to take you to the extremes of all your emotions and senses, it is just a nice movie to watch with talented actors and stunts. I only speak English so I had to gauge the mood while reading subtitles and I still thought it was worth watching and I would watch it again.

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

I enjoyed this sequel a decent amount, I'll get that out of the way, but like the 1st it relies on its crazy action sequences and cool characters to get it over the hill. I enjoy a good action movie, but I feel a story is essential to any type of movie, and the action genre is certainly no exception. These movies rely on crazy stunts and thrilling action sequences, and while they certainly deliver on that part, I really found the story to be superficial and rather mediocre. Cyril Raffaelli|Tomaso| and David Belle|Leito| are charismatic and fantastic as ever together, but they can't make the movie anything more than above average. Raffaelli has one incredible fight scene at the start of the movie, that really blew me away with how crazy it was, and some of his stunts were spectacular. These movies are rather brainless and are great on a popcorn level, but the stories definitely leave a lot to be desired.Bottom line. It's entertaining for the action, I certainly don't regret watching it, but these things need a better story to fully succeed. Still worth a viewing for action junkies.6 1/2 /10

It was not up to the standard to the first film. I still liked some fight scenes. I saw the deleted and extended scenes on the DVD, and it was basically 9 min of fight footage that was not used. Which i think was too bad. I think most of them should have been included in the film. I feel they could have improved the film a bit. Poor decision in my opinion. I think it had some great new moves from Raffaelli and Belle. In my opinion is these the reasons for it: worse editing in the fights, shaky camera, too little Parkour, too little fights for Belle, some poor camera angles and too little screen time for Belle If they make a third film, which i think they will do. They should have learned the mistakes i mentioned from this film. I hope they can find an even balance between the fights and Parkour scenes. They would be perfect.