Posts Tagged ‘David Belle’

Banlieue 13 – Ultimatum

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

tn_b13uSo I watched this poorly subtitled Chinese import of BANLIEUE 13 – ULTIMATUM, which I think is about to be released dubbed in the US as DISTRICT 13: ULTIMATUM, the sequel to what we call DISTRICT B13, which pretty much translates to “District District 13.” This one reunites Cyril Rafaelli (last seen tossed into a fan by John McClane) and David Belle for more near-future parkour and martial arts action.

It’s 3 years later and the government has made good on its promise for regime change, but nothing else. The district is still walled in, and the cops still treat everybody like shit. Leito (Belle) doesn’t want to let it go so he has a hobby of strolling around casually attaching bombs to walls and blowing shit up. Then he gets chased by cops and the gangs, or “clans,” get pissed at him because they sort of like their lives behind the walls and don’t want him fucking it up. (more…)

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District B13

Wednesday, April 4th, 2007

(originally BANLIEUE 13)

I’m way behind on this movie. I remember a couple years ago I went to see some movie at the film festival here, and this one was just getting out on the same screen. I saw some people I knew coming out and I asked them how it was. They said it was ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK except in France, and with some weird martial art where they run up walls and shit. I knew it was a Luc Besson joint so I thought wait a minute, is this related to that YAMAKASI movie I saw? The art of climbing and flipping?

Now it’s years later and the movie has long since played American theaters and DVD players in a dubbed version called DISTRICT B13. The advertising campaign has tried to convince us we know what the word “parkour” means. Another practicioner of the art has battled (and lost) the new, badass James Bond. Now it’s old news, the excitement has worn off, so I saw it now. That’s just how I roll.

Well, it really is an ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK ripoff – the poor neighborhood District B13 has been walled off just like New York was, and our hero is a badass released from prison to go into B13 and do a mission for the man. Only instead of saving the president he has to find a nuclear bomb that’s in the hands of his enemy, and instead of Ernest Borgnine he’s teamed up with a cop, and instead of having an eyepatch he doesn’t have an eyepatch.

But despite the similarity, the whole look, tone, spirit and poetry of the movie is nothing like ESCAPE. What it’s more like is exactly what it is: an action movie produced and written by Luc Besson. Fun and energetic if not entirely memorable. I liked it though. (more…)

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