Boring

I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Plot: When a corrupt cop and a villainous real-estate developer plan to destroy District 13 by manufacturing a false atrocity then an honest cop and a Robin Hood like criminal have to combine forces, again.The problems with this film are twofold. The first problem is that this sequel is in every way inferior to its predecessor. An excess of plot leaves the two heroes squeezed out, the climax fight/mission is a damp squib, the music is a bad re-tread of the excellent soundtrack of the original, the editing/camera are both far less slick and satisfying, the villains are too bland and the lack of Leito's sister leaves this without an emotional core. There are fun moments, like Damien dressed as a Chinese tranny or a superb parkour sequence when Leito escapes his flat, but there are far too many stupid scenes, like a tiny Chinese cyberpunk prostitute gangster armed with a blade in her pony tail fighting police, or stupid ideas, like Damien's ridiculous tea-cosy hat, or flat moments, like the boring exposition scene between Leito and Damien in an air vent. In particular the plot is too convoluted, in an attempt to disguise that it is basically the same plot as the first film, which leads to the film forsaking the parkour chases and brilliantly realised ghettoes for the tedium of central Paris and bog-standard kung-fu in the third act.The other big problem is the political schizophrenia. The film starts off quite explicit about the results of open borders, globalisation and mass immigration by depicting tribalised, racially exclusive gangs with their own ghettoes. The five gangs are all stereotypes: East Asians (computer nerds), Africans (primitive, tribal), Muslims (fanatical), Skinheads (neo-Nazi) and Gypsy (thieving). The camera lingers on the proletarian squalor, the brutalism of the concrete ghettos and the foreignness of these ghettoised cultures. Yet at the same time it ends with the gangs coming together into one broad multi-cultural alliance (Skinheads and Muslims? Really?) to shame the evil white capitalist French elites and show how they are more French than the French. The conclusion, when the President promises a new district, with parks and jobs, seems like an absurdity. So we get the bourgeoisie leering at the horror of the underclass whilst feeling sorry for them and excusing them as victims. The film can't decide if it wants to be a right-wing fantasy where the criminals get their just deserts at the hands of fascist police or whether it wants to be a left-wing fantasy where the immigrant criminals prove superior to the indigenous population.

Now the first B13 has a passable plot for action movie such as this and didn't take itself too seriously. Which is a positive thing, since it focused more on the parkour action which I am sure most of the audience want to watch. Sure the plot has to be there for the ride, but for a movie such as this it just ain't the main element. But this time around for "Ultimatum" it focuses too much on the plot for it's own good and tries to make it seem like one of those "Bourne" films which doesn't really work. Mainly since the the concept and the direction is still pretty much silly and can't be taken seriously. What I wanted was more of the awesome adrenaline pumped action sequences that was in the first "B13" movie. And for the most part that is what I got out of this, there is some great fight sequences in this and some great parkour sequences as well. But when it came to just talking and moving the plot along, that is where the slow down starts to come in which takes away from the fast paced action scenes. I am not really going to go in depth with the plot, but I will just say it's more of a slow paced and a bit more plot heavy compared to the first "B13". Basically the bad guys that are in high authority wants to blow up the ghetto district, by convincing the president to launch a bomb on the ghettos in "B13" by trying to somewhat frame some of the gangs in "B13". And while this is going on there is some conflict with the gangs and the authorities like the police. There are also more side character this time around, but none of them is memorable at least K2 and his boss Taha was somewhat memorable from the first film. Anyways it's been 5 years for this worthy sequel to come along, and if there is another sequel I hope to not have to wait another 5 years for it. Plus both those two actors and parkour experts are almost in their 40's now, and might slow down their performance with the stunts and all. It would have also been cool if K2 and even Leito's sister made a appearance or even a cameo, but too bad the guy that played K2 died of a heart attack in real life.7.6/10

It mightn't entirely surprise you that David Belle, creator of 'Parkour' and star of District 13 and this follow up, isn't the finest actor in the galaxy. But then we aren't really here to admire his Uncle Vanya. A human tree frog, Belle makes Jason Bourne look arthritic. All that's required of writer-producer Luc Besson is to spin preposterous, half-arsed plots around Belle's 'running, jumping and rarely standing still' shtick to create 90 minutes of stupefying spectacle, a delirious, laugh-out-loud no-brainer.But if the original could have benefited from even less story than it actually had, this one's certainly ironed out the problem. "I don't like it when you think", Leito (Belle) cautions supercop partner Damien (Cyril Raffaelli), and the audience, which is absolutely fine with us. This time they attempt to thwart the French secret service, who are killing cops to inflame an already ravaged District, then waiting for it to blow so they can erect penthouses amid the ashes. "It's like Iraq" sneers a gang leader, making the allegory explicit. Actually, it's like Robocop. But who cares about originality when you've got stunts? Like two halves of some super-evolved organism, if Raffaelli's the upper muscle, Belle's the dancing feet – although it's Damien who disguises himself as a shapely lapdancer to foil the dealers. With so much homoerotic tension here it makes you wonder if all those 'faggot' insults flying around are a smokescreen: at any moment, you can imagine the pair falling to the floor, covering one another with tiny kisses.

This French film is the sequel to the equally French film, District 13 (2004), which, unfortunately, I have not seen. The setting is Paris in the not too distant future, 2013 according to the subtitles, where District 13 has been walled off from the rest of the French capital. It seems that the government has forgotten the people that live there who have split into factions and live outside the law.A cop, Capt. Damien Tomaso, has been framed by a government run unit called DISS, headed by the rather nasty Walter Gassman. There is a plot to evacuate District 13 so a new development can be built for the rich. The plot is uncovered by Damien's friend, Leïto, who helps him escape from police custody. Now on the run, the pair has to unite the factions in District 13 in order to thwart the governments plan. But time is running out.As I said at the beginning, I have not seen the original film, District 13, so I can't judge whether this is better or not. It's certainly well made with some really exciting fight sequences and some really great free running. Good performances from all of the major cast, Cyril Raffaelli as Capt. Damien Tomaso, David Belle as Leïto, Philippe Torreton as Le président de la République and Daniel Duval as Walter Gassman.Quite an enjoyable film to watch, but it did seem to lack a little depth. A lot of the characters seemed a bit one-dimensional. If nothing else, it's worth watching for the fight sequences and the free running, some of this stuff is really outstanding. I hear the first film is better but I'll be able to judge when I've seen it. Over all, pretty entertaining although the story line is a little simplistic, but still, recommended.My score: 6.8/10