CousinBagunca
Banlieue 13 is a thrilling straightforward action movie.I debated with myself if a 10/10 score would be giving it too much credit, but no, this movie deserves it. This movie is awesome.The stunts are believable and outstanding to watch. It has that thrilling effect where everything is on the edge.The plot was OK to me. It's simple and it's done in a great manner. For a 84 minutes movie, everything looks fine. Though I think IMDb's description about the movie is kinda off: Leito is not a thug by any means. I'd describe him as a punisher; or just a good guy who got tired of all that cr** -- not a thug by any means, though I get what they were thinking!Action at its best!
First Name Last Name
I would advise my fellow action fans to watch this. I gave this movie 8 out of 10. While the plot and characters honestly felt slightly lame, the action and fast paced editing carries the movie to a higher level. There is no possible world in which this movie isn't entertaining as hell. Any viewer who enjoy impressive stunt-work will be engaged from start to finish.Some of the scenes involving parkour and martial arts were quite impressive. The opening sequence involving Leito's thrilling free running adventure was probably one of the most well executed action scenes in history. Seriously! The music and stunts work so well together that I instantly wanted to re-watch that scene. The very way it was put together was so splendid. And several other action scenes were quite worth the watch, albeit not as impressive as the opening action sequence. In short: watch it for that scene, at least. The cinematography is quite spectacular and delicious throughout, the soundtrack fresh, the actors comfortable with their clichés.Sure, one could find reasons to hate it; the plot is lame; the characters are pretty flat; the villain is a little sleazy and evil-for-the-sake-of-evil; the plot with the bomb and girl on top of the building was dumb. Those are usually big problems in most movies – but in this one it can be forgiven. The action is too impressive, simply. The editing is so sharp and on-point that I can't put a finger on it. It is dynamic, sleek and intense.I was positively surprised! I am glad to see a good European action movie that seriously tops anything America can deliver. I would encourage you to watch this!
tr91
I am not normally one to watch a film where I have to read subtitles the whole way through but I still decided to give this one a go after hearing about the free-running type action in the film. It didn't disappoint.The subtitles were easy to follow and the action just kept me glued to the screen from start to finish. The story is good and develops at a good pace.Cyril Raffaelli and David Belle deserve huge credit for the way they performed in this film, the stunts were all real and just looked incredible. The fight scenes were just brilliant, it was a complete thrill ride. If you want good over the top action this is for you! It was only an hour and 15 minutes or so and it was over in what felt like 20 minutes, that's how fast and good the action was. Would recommend this film to anyone wanting to see some great action and fighting scenes. Looking forward to watching the sequel now.8/10.
ajs-10
I reviewed the sequel to this, Banlieue 13 - Ultimatum (2009) (a.k.a. District 13 – Ultimatum), back in June 2010 (you can find that review here: film-review-district-13-ultimatum-2009). Funnily enough, this film is very similar, with just as much action as in the sequel. But more of that later, here's a very brief summary first (summary haters please wait outside the walls of District 13 while I write the next paragraph).The French government have walled off a section of Paris to contain lawless elements within. A vigilante who lives there, Leïto, is in a dispute with a drug lord, Taha, when Taha kidnaps his sister. Taking revenge, Leïto captures Taha and takes him to the police, only for the corrupt cops to release Taha and lock up Leïto. Some time later, a straight-up cop, Tomaso, is tasked with retrieving a bomb that has been stolen in District 13. He takes Leïto to help him, on the promise that they will also rescue his sister. The bomb will explode in just a few hours and Leïto has a plan. I won't say any more, don't want to give too much away.This is a very well made film that has some great fight sequences and some brilliant free-running segments also. Performances were also pretty good, although it's quite hard to judge with an action film in a foreign language. But honourable mentions must go to; Cyril Raffaelli as Capt. Damien Tomaso, David Belle as Leïto, Tony D'Amario as K2, Bibi Naceri as Taha Bemamud and Dany Verissimo as Lola.Like the sequel, I found the plot a little simplistic, although there were some nice little twists in this one that were missing from the second. As I said, the fight sequences and free-running were excellent; I just felt there could have been a little more of them. The film did get a little too bogged down in dialogue from time to time which, I felt, didn't help the flow of the action. Having said that, it's still worth seeing for the action sequences, and so, recommended.My score: 6.8/10
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