The District 13 sequel fails to live up to the charms of its original.
Man, am I lazy.
(Im too lazy to even be bothered in training to get the gold.)
The point Im trying to make is that all this laziness has left me dangerously unfit.
In full flow it is truly stunning to behold, and the very best resemble real life Spider-men.
This is probably why parkour has, in a very short space of time, crept into popular culture.
Practitioners, like martial artists before them, are rapidly becoming film stars, especially in their native France.
One of the first films to use parkour successfully was 2004sDistrict 13.
District 13 becomes a law free society ruled by the gangs that live there.
Fights are fought and in the end good triumphs over evil.
The film was generally well received, so now we have the sequelDistrict 13 Ultimatum.
The war in District 13 is now primed to blow out into the rest of Paris.
On a whim I rented out the originalDistrict 13when it came out and really enjoyed it.
The plot was nonsense and the script laughable, but it was still hugely entertaining.
This was in no small part due to the astonishing stunts performed.
It brought to mind the stunts of Jackie Chan in his early days.
Although a competent director, he lacks the flare to keep up the pace in the action scenes.
Now the plots deficiencies start to stand out as the film starts to drag.
His action scenes were very good, but just could not compete.
In a bizarre twist, this has completely switched for the sequel.
Now the parkour scenes come in second behind the martial arts.
I dont think this is a conscientious decision, rather a failing in the filmmaking.
In an attempt to up the ante, all the parkour stuff has a bigger scope to it.
Unfortunately, this doesnt come off as well as it might.
Although Im not saying theyre not, it just leaves you with doubt.
Luckily, Cyril Raffaelli steps up to the mark and really performs.
The choreography in his fights is outstanding and displays the intimacy that the parkour scenes are lacking.
Also inUltimatums favour are the two lead actors.
They genuinely seem to be having a good time on screen and it shows.
I also have to mention how stunning the soundtrack is.
I dont think its a patch on the original, but definitely worth a rent.
Extras
This is where the DVD really comes into its own.
If youre a fan of parkour then the making of is a definite bonus.
The making of is a decent length and I actually enjoyed it more than the film.
Film:
District 13: Ultimatumisout now.
Rating:
2 out of 5
