District 13: Ultimatum

Stars: Cyril Raffaelli, David Belle, Daniel Duval, Elodie Yung, Philippe Torreton, Fabrice Feltzinger, Sophie Ducasse

Director: Patrick Alessandrin

Slam-bang, it's action all the way in this comic-strip sprung to life, in what proves to be a stuntman's dream. Free-running and martial arts combine to hold centre stage, as the spotlight falls again, three years after the previous film, on the racially-charged Paris ghetto rife with gangs, drug dealers and killers.

Now a consortium of corrupt cops and government officials is conspiring to cause civil unrest within District 13 with a view to finding an excuse to raze the area and cash in on its redevelopment. Killing four cops and dumping their car within range of the D13 machine guns will do for a start.

Kill-em-all-and-come-back-alone hero cop Damien (Raffaelli) is framed and put out of the way, but the bad guys reckon without his ex-buddy Leito (Belle), to whom Damien manages to get a 'help' message. Flying footwork follows as the tenement gangs combine to combat the villains' nefarious schemes.

No subtleties here in any department, yet action fans are still hardly likely to leave unsatisfied after this expensive-looking slugfest.

David Quinlan

France 2009. UK Distributor: Momentum. Duboicolor.
101 minutes. Widescreen. UK certificate: 15.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 0, Violence/Horror 1, Drugs 1, Swearing 1.

Review date: 29 Sep 2009