Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

District 13: Ultimatum Blu-ray Movie Review

Silly, sloppily scripted, but ultimately enjoyable.

Reviewed by Casey Broadwater May 2, 2010

Not to be confused with District 9, tongue-pierced teen drama Thirteen, or The Bourne Ultimatum—although that would make for an insane mash-up movie— District 13: Ultimatum is the sequel to the Luc Besson-produced District 13, the 2004 acrobatic hybrid of Ong Bak and Escape From New York that introduced the world to the gymnastic talents of parkour creator David Belle. Parkour, for those of you who don’t keep abreast of moderately obscure French subcultures, is the art and discipline of running through an urban setting and jumping, vaulting, flipping, and sliding over, around, or through any obstacle in your path. MTV viewers circa 1995 may remember the short-lived freestyle walking craze—parkour’s less physically fit cousin—which, I’m definitely ashamed to admit, once inspired me to jump onto a trashcan slick with rainwater, then slip and faceplant into the concrete sidewalk below. (Note to would-be show-offs: there’s nothing less cool than biting through your bottom lip with your upper teeth and having to take a taxi to the ER to get stitches.) David Belle and his high- flying acolytes make it all look easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy, so try to restrain yourself from leaping off any nearby rooftops after watching District 13: Ultimatum.

The fist-bump: the universal symbol of brotherhood.

In District 13’s Paris-of-the-not-so-distant-future, streetwise vigilante Leito (David Belle) and undercover cop Damien Tomasso (Cyril Raffaelli) team up to keep a corrupt government official from bombing Banlieue 13, a multi-cultural ghetto that’s been overrun by gangsters and drug traffickers. Three years later, in Ultimatum, the particulars of the plotting have been shifted around, but the story is essentially the same, so much so that it could easily pass for a loose remake, i.e. Evil Dead II. An uber-powerful development firm— called Harriburton, wink wink—is intent on destroying District 13 so they can erect a massive high rise in its place. The French government’s weasely defense minister—on Harriburton’s payroll—stages a police execution inside B13 and convinces the Sarkozy stand-in president that the only way to avoid civil war is to blow the ghetto sky high and reclaim the land for the middle class. Leito and Damien catch wind of the plot—thanks to video footage captured by some idiotically intrepid youths—and once again join forces to expose the conspiracy, recruiting the surprisingly cooperative help of B13’s Asian, African, Arab, skinhead, and gypsy gang leaders. It’s “We Are The World” as sung by The Warriors.

If the phrase “written and produced by Luc Besson” inspires cinematic confidence in you, chances are, you’ll likely enjoy District 13: Ultimatum, especially if you’re a fan of the action films the Gallic impresario has been producing throughout the past decade, from Unleashed and Taken to the Taxi and Transporter series. Like these, though, Ultimatum isn’t about to revolutionize the action genre with the brilliancy of its story. Besson’s script is a sloppy, never quite convincing amalgam of fight or flight bravado and Johnny- come-lately, Bush-era political jabs, with references to Guantanamo and Iraq that were already past their expiration dates in 2006. Worse, Besson feels obligated to repeatedly rehash the details of the conspiracy for us—using flashbacks to scenes we’ve already watched—a technique which is either a.) condescending, in that he doesn’t think we can figure out a really, truly, exceptionally simple plot, or b.) he’s just trying to pad out the film and give us some breathing space between rooftop-spanning foot chases. Either way, it doesn’t work. The down time is a downer, and the attempts to satirize Bush and comment on the suburban Parisian riots of 2005 feel distinctly featherweight. Still, we’re not really meant to take any of it too seriously.

How do I know? Well, the movie begins with Damien infiltrating a Chinese gangster’s headquarters dressed in drag, a slit in the back of his slinky dress allowing for some overly generous butt crack cleavage. He grinds all up on the gangster—who, for some reason, doesn’t notice that his stripper has seriously thick sprinter’s calves—and then whips off his wig, pulls out a crazy hypodermic syringe gun, and proceeds to take out all of the baffled thug’s entourage, one after another. It’s ridiculous, silly but fun, basically setting the tone for the rest of the movie. While the fight and chase sequences aren’t nearly as breathtaking and brutal as they were in the first film, director Patrick Alessandrin (taking over for Taken’s Pierre Morel) knows how to entertain. One scene has Damien fending off waves of attackers using a priceless Monet as a shield. In another, an Asian femme fatale dispatches a cadre of soldiers using nothing but her blade-adorned, ass-length ponytail—all while listening to her iPod. A car is crashed through an office building. A rocket takes out a police bunker. Bad guys get kicked in the balls. But the real draw, once again, is David Belle’s parkour prowess, which lets him scale buildings, make impossible leaps, and move with an athletic artfulness, all without the aid of stuntmen, wires, or CGI. Seriously, Luc Besson needs to team Belle with Ong Bak’s Tony Jaa and make a French martial arts buddy cop comedy, a la Rush Hour.

District 13: Ultimatum Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

District 13: Ultimatum soars onto Blu-ray with a nearly ceaselessly stunning 1080p/AVC- encoded transfer—framed in a slim 2.35:1 aspect ratio—that perfectly suits the film's stylized cinematography. There's a lot to be impressed by here. Some softness creeps into the more kinetic shots—mostly the result of slightly off focusing—but otherwise, clarity is fantastic. Check out the hatch-marked scarring on an African warrior's face, the texture of the crumbling concrete rubble, the detail in the criss-cross weft of Damien's knit cap, and the individually defined hairs in the defense minister's goatee. Close-ups are as crisp as you'd expect, and even long shots display tight resolution. I can see how some people would complain about the film's ultra-deep, frequently detail- crushing black levels, but this seems like an intentional stylistic choice, meant to give the image a hopped up, overheated sense of contrast. I think it works well for the movie's music-video-on-crack aesthetic. Similarly, color is selectively intensified and desaturated, allowing for vivid primaries, bleak neutrals, and lightly bronzed skin tones. Reds and oranges are especially vibrant. The film's grain structure looks warm and natural, and I didn't spot any compression-related issues aside from some slight noise during a few darker scenes. A really tight presentation, all around.

District 13: Ultimatum Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

First off, this disc defaults to an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 dub, so the first thing you're going to want to do is go into the menu and select the native French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track. The dub, like most dubs, is cringe and/or laugh-inducing throughout—it makes the dialogue even more cheesetastic—so unless you're the sort that simply can't stand reading subtitles, the French track is where it's at. And it's a pretty solid audio offering, though it definitely values sheer sonic bedlam over crafting a subtle and believable aural environment. Expect buzz-saw synthesizers and big beats in nearly every scene, with thick bass and crisp snare hits, flooded throughout all channels in an often overwhelming techno cacophony. Intermixed with the music you'll hear all the expected action flick whiz bang pow sound effects—gunshots popping off and ripping holes in the audio space around your head, grenade blasts with potent LFE rumble, glass shattering as our heroes drive a car through an office building, and jets roaring through the rears. It's loud and hectic, but it's brawn over brains sound design. There are a few scenes when voices get somewhat lost in the surrounding mayhem, but most of the dialogue comes through cleanly. Optional English, English SDH, English Narrative, and Spanish subtitles appear in easy-to-read white lettering at the bottom of the frame.

District 13: Ultimatum Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Making of District 13: Ultimatum (SD, 26:34)
This comprehensive documentary takes us through nearly every element of the film's production, but focuses, as it should, on the ridiculous parkour stunts, over-the-top car crashes, and quick- fisted hand-to-hand combat. Includes loads of on-set footage and plenty of interviews with director Patrick Alessandrin and stars David Belle and Cyril Raffaelli.

Production Diary (SD, 34:32)
Just as exhaustive (and exhausting) is Cyril Raffaelli's production diary, which is broken into several episodes, featuring even more B-roll footage and interviews.

Music Video (SD, 3:35)
I don't know why French rap cracks me up so much. Oh yeah, it's because it sounds ridiculous.

Deleted and Extended Scenes (SD, 9:22)
Didn't get enough running, jumping, flipping, and headbashing during the film itself? Tune in here for more.

HDNet: A Look at District 13: Ultimatum (1080i, 4:43)
A standard HDNet promo/synopsis, narrated by critic Robert Wilonsky, who conspicuously praises every Magnolia title to the roof.

Also From Magnolia Home Entertainment Blu-ray (1080p, 5:57)
Includes trailers for Red Cliff, The Warlords, Ong Bak 2, and a promo for HDNet.

Bookmarks

BD-Live

District 13: Ultimatum Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

District 13: Ultimatum is more of the same, but it's also more of what made the first film a surprise cult hit—crazy parkour set pieces, slick fight choreography, and generally insane stunts. It's goofy, yes, and the dialogue is frequently laughable—especially if you listen to the terrible English dub—but if you're in the mood for a high-octane action film, you could do much worse. This Blu-ray release has solid, often stunning technical merits as well, which may sway some would-be buyers to a purchase.