More Trouble For the 13th District
Ultimatum is set just a few years after the events of the first film. Cyril reprises his role as Capt. Damien Tomas, respected and capable leader of a French SWAT team. His friend and District 13 resident, Leïto, is once again played by parkour extraordinaire David Belle. The plot revolves around the entire destruction of District 13. This isn’t something the acting president wants — but he’s pressured into turning the kill switch (i.e., dropping bombs) on to 13 by some corrupt advisers. Not surprisingly, the destruction — and rebuilding — of District 13 is all about money.
Walter Gassman (played by Daniel Duval) is the leader of a government organization known as DISS. You can think of them as FBI or NSA — men in suits with a lot of power. Gassman has a deal going on under the table with a large contractor that would be hired to rebuild District 13 if it were demolished. Clearly, despite the haven that District 13 is for hardcore criminals, a government couldn’t simply destroy it. So, Gassman and his henchmen put together a scheme in which they frame one of the five major gangs in District 13 for brutal death of two policeman. Unknown to them at the time, a group of kids, one of whom is a friend of Leito’s, captures the affair on video.
Meanwhile, Damien is arrested after being framed for drug possession at his house, just a day after he lead an operation that shut down a major drug distribution ring. Leito and Damien know the truth — that corrupt government officials want to destroy District 13 swiftly — but they can’t stop it from happening alone. They’ll need to unite the gang leaders of District 13 to fight back. Can Damien and Leito put a plan together in time to save District 13 from complete destruction?
If you’re familiar with the first film, you know that it’s loaded with some great martial arts fight scenes. Guns are a part of both films, but it’s the empty-hand combat that takes center stage, and it’s very well choreographed. The combination of Cyril (Damien)– an acrobatic athlete himself — and Belle (Leito), a parkour expert — is a treat to watch on screen. It’s one of the better ‘buddy’ films I’ve seen in a while thanks in large part to Damien’s hard hitting fighting skills and Leito’s incredible parkour abilities. As far as action goes, D13: U is a lot of fun.
The story is enjoyable too, but I’m not as impressed with some of the characters. While the two lead stars were well presented and did a great job, some of the other roles weren’t nearly as compelling. I’m primarily talking about the gang leaders. The gang leader characters, all five of them, walked that fine line between being overly generic and too under developed to appreciate. They aren’t a huge part of the film, but I didn’t think that most of their scenes were that strong. On the other hand, I liked Philippe Torreton’s portrayal of the President, and Duval did a great job as the corrupt Gassman.
D13: U runs for an hour and a half and is consistently entertaining throughout. Other than some weaker characters and a couple of attempts at comedy that made me cringe, I had a great time watching Damien and Leito kick some ass.
The Blu-ray
The Blu-ray release comes packaged in a standard case with no inserts inside, just the disc. The main menu is fronted by several trailers from other current Magnet releases like The Warlords and Red Cliff, which I enjoyed immensely and reviewed recently. The menu is clean and functional and gives viewers the standard choices. The presentation quality is great, combining a crisp and vibrant image with DTS-HD 5.1 surround sound.
As for extra features, there are several and include:
-Making of District 13: Ultimatum (SD, 26.5m) – This making of feature includes a lot of behind the scenes footage and interviews with the cast and crew. Both Cyril and David profiled and given the spotlight for several minutes. The car stunts are also heavily featured here.
-Production Diary (SD, 34m) – A lot more behind the scenes and production footage, some of which overlaps what was seen in the ‘Making of’ feature. Interviews talk about the stages of filming, with more than a dozen scenes broken down and examined.
-Music Video (SD, 3m35s) – A french rap video relating to the film.
-Extended/Deleted Scenes (SD, 9m22s) – A total of eight scenes that didn’t make the final cut.
-HDNet: A Look At D13: U (HD, 4m43s) – A promotional video about the film that is narrated and provides several scenes from the movie.
All in all, D13: U is a fun movie and this is a very respectable Blu-ray release. To the summary…