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Review #142 of 365
Film: District B13 (Banlieue 13) [R] 85 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $13.00
Where Viewed: Regal Cinemas Brooklyn Center 20, Minneapolis, MN
When 1st Seen: 3 June 2006
Time: 3:50 p.m.
Review Dedicated to: Rick D. and Trey D. of Faribault, MN
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Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
The year is 2010, and to contain and isolate 'problem' areas in the suburbs of Paris, the government has decided to erect walls around them effectively isolating the residents and inner workings from the rest of the city and creating land-locked zones run inside by crime lords. No one goes in or comes out. Such is the premise for the new-to-the-USA French action film, Banlieue 13 or District B13, which uses real stunt men in the lead roles and puts some of the most thrilling, non-CGI stunt effects, ever filmed on the big screen. Attempting to high jump over the tremendously high bar for choreographed fight scenes set by the Chinese and Koreans, French director Pierre Morel went to extraordinary lengths to find exactly the right stunt actors to carry the lead roles featured in this Luc Besson-script: the highly moral cop Damien (Cyril Raffaelli) and the righteous, vigilante Leïto (David Belle). The opening sequences introduce the main character, Leïto, as he is seen trying to hurriedly destroy kilos of drugs he confiscated from the worst crime lord of his home District B13 named Taha (Bibi Naceri), just as the crime lord's gang members arrive to stop him and recover the drugs. Also, these sequences serve as the first theatrical USA release of actors performing Parkour—a creation of French stuntman David Belle which involves achieving a style of movement whereby the person adapts his or her actions and musculature to move past any object in a rapidly fluid way with unfettered forward motion. So, the body leaps over an obstacle and fluidly tumbles around the corner in a semi-handstand or by running up the wall a tad all in one motion. In my view, you have to see this to believe it or fully comprehend the elegance of what it means. The end result is a wonderfully long sequence of moves including scaling up and down buildings almost like Spiderman, leaping from roof top to rooftop, sliding down pipes, swinging from ropes, etc. It was like watching a steel roller coaster from the coaster-cam with every movement so strong yet smooth and graceful, and it reminded me immediately of one of those great film car chases in Dirty Harry movies only with people in place of the cars. The result of Mr. Belle's efforts to choreograph not only this sequence but many others in the film with co-star Cyril Raffaelli—who was actually hurt in the middle of shooting the film causing delays for nearly six months—is just amazing to watch and sort of makes the Shanghai rooftop escape of Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt character in M:I:III seem, while still quite fierce, somewhat less thrilling.
"It was like watching a steel roller coaster from the coaster-cam with every movement so strong yet smooth and graceful, and it reminded me immediately of one of those great film car chases in Dirty Harry movies only with people in place of the cars."
I am not going to lie, and I am not exaggerating, I have not left a movie theatre feeling so jazzed and excited by the action in a film with my adrenaline pumping 90 miles per hour since I saw Die Hard. Though Die Hard was slightly more cerebral in some ways, and Bruce Willis made officer John McClane one of the most famous barefooted, crime fighters ever, Cyril Raffaelli and David Belle can step up right alongside him and give him a run for his money. Certainly, the latter two have created in doing all their own incredible stunts an action-packed extravaganza that thrills and amazes while also speaking out to the injustice and offering the capacity to solve the decay of civility in urban areas. There exists an ultra-fine line between those that would take their honest turn out there in the great line of life and those that would beg, borrow, and steal their way to the front of the line and then take three things more than their allotment. Guiding more people toward the former takes leaders with an inner sense of justice backed by convictions and courage not simply an outer appearance of trustworthiness that can be nothing more than skin-deep.
Some critics are bound to say that this film was plotted to justify the action sequences. I would disagree. Some are bound to say that there is no character development or that the characters are cartoonish. Again, I would disagree. Certainly, were there not more care involved, these things could have turned out to be true. Instead, I think District B13 has turned out to be the new standard in defining the genre of live action films. It is not the greatest film ever made, neither was Flashdance, but both set off crazes in activity, action, and debates as to how good they truly were. Of course, you never really know how good a film is until years later when it is possible to look back and see if the film has survived, how many clones did it spawn, and if the film withstands the test of time to be considered a classic. I will enjoy lively debate on this film for months to come.
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District B13 (Banlieue 13) [DVD](2004) DVD
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