Review of District 13: Ultimatum (2009) by Stanley A — 28 May 2010

Leito: Gotta stay fit.

While not as wonderfully quick paced and fun as the first film, this sequel still provides the solid parkour action that helped make the first film so cool to watch.

Damien and Leito return to District 13 on a mission to bring peace to the troubled sector that is controlled by five different gang bosses, before the city's secret services take drastic measures to solve the problem. It wont be that easy however, because Damien is framed, despite his years of loyal service to the force; and Leito is being hunted, because he has the only proof of the corruption going on from within the government.

The main problem with this film is how much plot they decided to put into this. The first film's great strength was its no-nonsense manner of plotting. That film got underway quick, supplied just enough plot (which was actually fairly strong) and was over in under 90 minutes. Here, we have way too much downtime between the action beats.

However, the action is quite good. The parkour chases are sweet. The fighting is well handled. The humor that emerges is still well balanced with the cool factor. That is really what I wanted, so when I got it, I was very satisfied.

The change in directors is noticeable. While the action is still pretty well handled, in terms of having it set in an urban environment, I don't think the sense of awe involving some of these stunts was handled as well. Still, there are creative fights.

Passable sequel.

(Damien has just jumped into a car through the windoiw).

Leito: You have something against doors?

Damien: Yeah, you have to open them.