District 13: Ultimatum
R (violence, strong language, drug material); 101 min.
An action film from France may not carry quite the same cachet as its counterparts from the States or Hong Kong, but that certainly hasn't stopped the French from trying. In fact, an entire subculture has grown up around the scene's main inspiration, Luc Besson (director of La Femme Nikita, The Professional, The Fifth Element), who seems to have his hand in any movie featuring gunplay within earshot of the Eiffel Tower.
So it's no shock that his fingerprints are all over District 13: Ultimatum, a film he wrote and produced, although Patrick Alessandrin directed. The sequel to the 2004 film District 13, which Besson also wrote and produced, is a takeoff -- some might say rip-off -- of just about every American action-movie cliché. But its over-the-top energy, along with some well-executed stunts, make it enjoyable nonetheless -- even if it does sometimes feel like a retread of its predecessor.
The last time we saw police Capt. Damien Tomaso (Cyril Raffaelli) -- who, guess what, doesn't go by the book! -- and punk-with-a-heart-of-gold Leito (David Belle), they were working together to take down a gang warlord in this alternative Paris' crime-infested urban wasteland, District 13.
In District 13: Ultimatum, the year is 2016 and District 13 is as feral as ever. (The opening scenes taking the viewer on a walk through the gritty panorama are a high point of the film.) This time, though, Damien and Leito are taking on The Man: The country's corrupt security chief is in league with a corporate conglomerate named Harriburton (a not-so-subtle jab at the American firm Halliburton) to destroy District 13 so the area can be redeveloped.
Whatever. The plot is nonsense, but it's all just an excuse for some eye-catching action, much of it involving parkour and free running, in which our heroes leap over obstacles, stairwells and roofs with the alacrity of jungle cats. While it's never any secret where District 13: Ultimatum is going, the fun is in the getting there.
In French with English subtitles.
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