DISTRICT 13: ULTIMATUM

Film Four · Action · 25 Jan 2012 · by: Film 4

Continuing where the original, left off is writer-producer Luc Besson's Parkour action-adventure sequel, this time with director Patrick Alessandrin at the helm, and which again features sequence after sequence of stunning set-pieces in which the principal actors jump, bounce and seemingly fly over and around various architectural obstacles. Three years have gone by since Leïto (David Belle) and Damien (Cyril Raffaelli) ended gangster Taha Bemamud's stranglehold over their walled-off district, and also prevented the French authorities from detonating a massive bomb there. But that victory only served to create a power vacuum, which five violent factions have been attempting to fill ever since. Now police captain Damien has fallen foul of the area's drug dealers and has been framed for infractions he didn't commit. Meanwhile, local resident Leïto has discovered that the authorities and city developers are in cahoots, with plans to level the entire troublesome neighbourhood and build luxury apartments over the lot. Will the duo's determination to fight the good fight, aided by their superlative free-running skills, be enough to save the homes (and lives) of District 13's long-suffering residents a second time? It may not be the most intellectually satisfying movie around, but who cares when the headlong adrenaline rush is this much fun? In French with English subtitles.

Friday 27th January, 23.45, Film 4