Review of District 13: Ultimatum (2009) by Dan Y — 11 May 2010

Damien (Cyril Raffaelli) and Leito (David Belle) team up again in this sequel to the sleeper of 2006, the original District B13 or Banlieue 13. Unlike its predecessor, Ultimatum sacrifices the parkour (free running) element for non-stop hand to hand fighting and lots of police in tactical gear with big guns. The new director just didn't understand what was at the core of the first film working so well.

The trouble starts when elements within the French government murder a pair of police officers, dump them and their squad car in the troubled district and capture video of a trio of hot headed gang members firing at the vehicle. They release it to the media and stir up a hornet's nest, unrest growing on both sides of the wall. The president is manipulated into bombing the district's skyscrapers which is where the big gangs have their headquarters. Leito and Damien work to uncover the truth and what they find is so damned cliche, not to mention lazy. The guy putting the conspiracy in motion is some head honcho of defense who sits at the president's right side, and he's doing so his pals in some contractor can get the job of rebuilding the district. The company? Halliburton. "Just like in Iraq, but they're French." says Damien. Oh, my sides. Good grief people, is that the best you can come up with? All logic is defied as Leito and Damien talk the gangs into uniting to stop the military action, regardless of the fact that said gangs are at the root of the problem for the district, with their endless supply of AKs, distribution of illegal drugs and ruling the place with an iron fist. Things become even more hilarious when in the end they decide to go along with the bombing, all because they decide it'd be great to have new digs instead of improving 'what is broken' as one character puts it. I wanted to puke when one of the gang leaders started grand standing about them being united by 'family' and that motivating these thugs. Only on the movie screen would Chinese, white supremacist and Arab criminal gangs combine forces. In the real world, they wouldn't go three feet out of their way to spit on each other. What sanctimonious garbage.

Yet another brick in the wall of the ass backwards idea in movies where the government and private corporations are evil to the core and greedy, while the criminals unite for the greater good or some such BS. And they're not greedy, oh no, despite their massive amount of cash thanks to their selling drugs, cash which they could easily have used to improve the district themselves. Forget defying logic, this movie spits in its face.