REVIEW: DVD Release: District 13: Ultimatum

Film: District 13: Ultimatum
Release date: 26th October 2009
Certificate: 15
Running time: 82 mins
Director: Patrick Alessandrin
Starring: Cyril Raffaelli, David Belle, Philippe Torreton, Daniel Duval, Elodie Yung
Genre: Action
Studio: Momentum
Format: DVD
Country: France

Question: what do you get if you mix Double Dragon, Enemy Of The State, The Warriors, Future-France, and a society where everyone inexplicably knows parkour (the ability to jump and climb objects – such as buildings - in a fluid manner)? Answer: I'm not sure, but Patrick Alessandrin's sequel to District 13 is probably pretty close to the money.

Set in Paris, in a not-to-distant future, where France is on the brink of marshal law, District 13: Ultimatum draws upon the real-life poverty that parts of Paris are known for to create a rich backdrop for the story of two best friends – heroic special forces officer Cpt. Damien Tomaso (Cyril Raffaelli) and street-smart rebel Leito (David Belle) – as they attempt to prevent all-out war between the government and the inhabitants of the dangerous ghetto: District 13.

The film picks up where the original left off: with Leito voluntarily entering the gang-filled ghetto and leaving Tomaso behind to do the ‘hero-cop’ thing. It's made abundantly clear from the start that Leito still doesn't have much love for the heavy-handed lawmen in charge of Paris, while Tomaso is still just a hero through and through.

The pair spend the first half hour doing things to cement their characters (Leito outruns some cops and Tomaso beats a lot of people up), but the film really kicks into gear when shady secret-service types kill a few policemen in cold blood and then dump them in District 13. This escalates the already high tensions to near fever pitch, and, as it so happens, the only men that can stop it are either disaffected (Leito) or arrested because the wonderfully evil Walter Gassman (Daniel Duval) knows that they represent the only obstacle between him and his dastardly goal (that would be Tomaso). In order to stop the utter destruction of District 13, our heroic duo must band together once more, gain the allegiance of several warring gangs and provide proof of the secret agency's wrong-doing to the honest but ultimately ignorant President (Philippe Torreton)…


If this all sounds a bit straight-forward that's because it is - in parts, at least. Certainly you won’t find high-brow political intrigue here: the antagonists are a conveniently nameless and shady organisation, and the good-guys are your standard rebel/clean-cut combo. In fact, all of the characters in this film are essentially just very well worked stereotypes, but this is by no means a criticism. Indeed, it's actually quite refreshing to see that writer Luc Besson clearly has the art of characterisation down to a tee – okay, none of the roles are particularly complex, but they all work exactly as they are supposed to, and in the end that's all an action film really needs to keep the viewer interested in between set-pieces. However, don't let this fool you into thinking the acting is merely passable – some of the performers (most notably Belle and Raffaelli) frequently deliver moments of excellence that really allow the trademark cynical humour of Besson's script (and of French cinema in general) to come through. They won’t make you cry, but they may very well make you laugh – consistently.

Besson's name should ring a bell with more than a few people as the man behind the Transporter films, and fans of that series will see much of the same here – with one small caveat. Certainly the humour and self-awareness that a European presence in the writing can bring is still very evident, but gone are the jingoisms of a Hollywood blockbuster. Case in point: rare is it that Americans are ever criticised in western action films (let alone cast as the bad guys) – by contrast District 13: Ultimatum does very little except ask questions of the French, and of the underlying problems in Paris, which the film so gloriously stylises into foil for a movie, even going so far as to make everyone from the same place, good or bad. So you see, while the 'shady government organisation' is a stereotype that has been used before, it is hard to recall it ever being used in quite such a cynical (and therefore entertaining) fashion. Ultimately, the approach to action here manages to be subtle in its methods yet achieve madness in its results, and stands out as a stroke of genius because of it.

And it would be remiss to speak about subtlety without at least paying lip service to the stunning grace of the fight sequences that are frequently served up. The fights are choreographed in such a way that visceral, hard-hitting martial arts can blend seamlessly with the fantastic athleticism that well-performed parkour showcases - the end result of which is nothing short of fantastic. Tomaso is the fighter, Leito has the agility and together they possess the ability to lead the viewer through a hypnotic display of aesthetic splendour. Not to do a disservice to the other performers (many of whom have their own moments of excellence), but Belle and Raffaelli are the stars in terms of action, and regularly deliver the kind of quality which should have Hollywood action stars blushing.


It's an action film from the first to the last, but with licks of class visible throughout District 13: Ultimatum puts just about every western action film released in the last five years to shame. JD