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Critics Consensus: A nonstop thrill ride, District B13's dizzying action sequences more than make up for any expository flaws.
Critic Consensus: A nonstop thrill ride, District B13's dizzying action sequences more than make up for any expository flaws.
All Critics (115) | Top Critics (34) | Fresh (92) | Rotten (23) | DVD (9)
A message-based actioner that's fast, dumb fun.
I was delighted by the balletic and acrobatic stunts, some of which evoke Tarzan.
A 90-minute feature simply showing [David] Belle's stunts with no frills would be great; unfortunately, they only account for about 10 minutes - the rest of the time, Belle is called upon to act.
As 85-minute testosterone binges go, you could do a whole lot worse.
District B13 doesn't waste time with fake personality clashes. Both lead actors are amazingly fluid athletes, and during the many getaway and shoot-'em-up sequences, there is a minimum of special effects or wire choreography.
The typically moronic plot simply gets in the way of what might have been a super-ambitious sneaker commercial.
Urban ills are pretty much the same worldwide. But it's the very Frenchness of the film that makes it amusant. Unlike a typical American actioner, the villain is not a megalomaniacal genius, nor a corporate overlord; it's the civil servants. . .
The straight-faced outrageousness is part of the film's charm, while the stripped down aesthetic, driving pace, and impressive action sequences are the film's charge.
When Belle is in motion, the movie excels.
This action film from Luc Besson's B-movie factory is one of his best.
Comes off more like a theme park show than an actual film, it's there to deliver stunts and never an actual story.
the most memorable parts of District 13 actually precede the unfolding of its main plot, which, much like the thermonuclear device on which it is premised, is never allowed to fulfill its explosive promise.
It's great over the top fun. A smart, funny and highly entertaining film packed with incredible wall to wall action. Ong Bak meets Escape from New York. An unstoppable thrill ride that delivers the goods and incredible aerobic stunts. Its a head bashing good time. It's fast, furious and spectacular entertainment. It's loaded with great chases, awesome fight sequences and terrific gun battles. Director, Pierre Morel and Writer/Producer, Luc Besson bring a tremendously exciting and new breed of action film. David Belle and Cyril Raffaelli bring on great chemistry as well as their incredible skills in martial arts and parkour. An 85 minute, testosterone-injected roller-coaster ride that's one of the most visually memorable action films in years.
Super Reviewer
Pierre Morel gets District B13 in, over, and around the block.
Everything about this film is quick. The pacing of the story feels the need to sprint to the finish, yet it easy enough to follow. The dialogue is straight to the point and hastily executed. Do the math and it all leads to a brief run time of 70 minutes. Talk about short and sweet.
The action relies heavily on parkour and the introduction for each of the protagonists deliver some highly amusing pieces. The stunts are solid and the sequences are fast-paced with little in the way of slow motion. The fighting is also stylized with some parkour elements thrown in.
David Belle and Cyril Raffaelli are all over the place, while Dany Verissimo provides some much needed girl power on screen. Bibi Naceri and Tony D'Amario are your typical drug gangsters.
There really isn't much to District B13, but as a quick action adventure, it delivers.
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A crime riddled district of Paris is walled up and abandoned by the authorities, but when a neutron bomb is stolen by its crime boss, a lone cop is sent in to defuse it. Escape From New York meets Ong Bak in this frenetic French action flick that's very much in the tradition of Luc Besson. The whole "near future" premise is really just an excuse to make you swallow the greater implausibilites in the plot, as there's little here to mark it out as sci-fi. It's really just a series of high octane shoot outs and bone crunching fight sequences as a buddy duo join forces to reach their respective objectives; the bomb and the rescue of a resident's sister. Thankfully there's no corny love interest and the buddy partnership works quite well because of the lack of idiotic one liners and macho bullshit you'd get in a Hollywood equivalent. It's a total no-brainer and the plot gets thinner and thinner as it goes (the best sequences are all at the beginning, before they set out on their mission) but the boys will enjoy the male bonding and non stop action and the girls will enjoy the sight of a constantly shirtless David Belle. Dumb but fun.
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