Critic Reviews
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Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle
No need for CGI when you've got sweet moves, fast feet and a bottomless hoard of adrenaline.
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Cliff Doerksen, Chicago Reader
This sequel to the French actioner District B13 (2004) offers more of what made the original such a sublimely stupid pleasure.
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Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
If anyone is going to persuade fanboys to attend a movie with French subtitles, that man is Luc Besson.
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Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune
While it doesn't match the bombastic, bone-breaking brio of its predecessor, 2004's District B-13, this sequel imaginatively spices up the leftovers.
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Wesley Morris, Boston Globe
This is the first action movie in which bombs serve a humanitarian end.
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Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post
This tale of conspiracy and corruption, directed with adrenalized pleasure by Patrick Alessandrin and written by a reinvigorated Luc Besson, has a brain.
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Amber Wilkinson, Eye for Film
If you like your action comic-book style, with the emphasis more on slapstick than on blood and gore, this silly but slick sequel is a great way to get your fix.
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Paul Chambers, CNNRadio
Silly action with phony-looking stunts. And, the story? Don't get me started. Paul Chambers, CNN.
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Philip Martin, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
French parkour-action sequel - featuring David Belle, one of the inventors of the sport - to the kinetic dystopian 2004 film District B13, features lots of incredible stunts that at least look as though they weren't accomplished by the use of green screen
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Neil Miller, Film School Rejects
Adrenaline-filled, high-flying and brutal. A truly impressive action film that will hit you in the chest with awesome.
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Marty Mapes, Movie Habit
Evildoers vs. parkour-running underdog heroes
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Rubin Safaya, Cinemalogue.com
The chief motivation for watching this film is to see people bouncing off walls. That being the case, you could just as easily watch neighborhood kids on a sugar rush.
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Marc Savlov, Austin Chronicle
Mission accomplie.
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Peter Sobczynski, eFilmCritic.com
the film is an enormous amount of fun and it provides everything that one could possibly want in a piece of straightforward cinematic eye candy
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Jeanne Kaplan, Kaplan vs. Kaplan
The parkour action doesn't get old --- it just becomes more amazing.
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David Kaplan, Kaplan vs. Kaplan
Here's hoping this second version is the final installment of this particular story. Let's not completely ruin a good thing.
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Chris Hewitt (St. Paul), St. Paul Pioneer Press
Little more than a series of loosely connected (and fairly effective) action set pieces.
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Shaula Clark, Boston Phoenix
If you enjoyed the first installment, Ultimatum will probably be right up your alley...not to mention your fire-escape railing and your rooftop ledge.
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Adam Lippe, Examiner.com
The start-stop rhythm lets you know when you can focus less on the obvious plot mechanics and governmental conspiracy stuff, and recharge for the next ridiculous and acrobatic Parkour sequence.
Read all 19 critic reviews
Featured Audience Ratings
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I liked the original District 13 but I think the sequel - Ultimatum is much better. The Parkour is still there but it doesn't get in the way of the story - which I think is much stronger in this film. It's very silly at times much like Taxi and many of the other Luc Besson… More
I liked the original District 13 but I think the sequel - Ultimatum is much better. The Parkour is still there but it doesn't get in the way of the story - which I think is much stronger in this film. It's very silly at times much like Taxi and many of the other Luc Besson produced films but if you're into that style then you'll be sure to enjoy. The stunt with the car was pretty rubbish but everything else was good fun.
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Supercop Damien reunites with his old friend Leito to prevent a plot by a sinister government agency to level Banlieue 13 and profit from the rebuilding process. The original film was a braindead but fun XY pleaser with plenty of inventive action making it an entertaining ride. This… More
Supercop Damien reunites with his old friend Leito to prevent a plot by a sinister government agency to level Banlieue 13 and profit from the rebuilding process. The original film was a braindead but fun XY pleaser with plenty of inventive action making it an entertaining ride. This rehash is basically the same plot with a slightly different conspiratorial spin and gang banger stereotypes thrown into the mix. It's a bit like Jackie Chan does The Fast And The Furious as a result and the fact that our first glimpse of Cyril Raffaelli is in drag shows that the grittiness bar has been suitably lowered. It's fast footed and brief enough to never bore but like the Taxi films before them, a case of lazy script writing being papered over by ever more ludicrous set pieces. Not a bad little diversion but the series really needs to stop here and now before it starts to embarrass itself.
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Luc Besson's behind this explosion of parkour (the French initiated sport of freestyle bouncing off of urban obstacles, ala Spiderman), but the story is Robin Hood, the lower class against the greedy nobles. Set in Paris, this stunt saturated extravaganza is never long on talk… More
Luc Besson's behind this explosion of parkour (the French initiated sport of freestyle bouncing off of urban obstacles, ala Spiderman), but the story is Robin Hood, the lower class against the greedy nobles. Set in Paris, this stunt saturated extravaganza is never long on talk or explanations, just an introduction to the opposing sides and let's get ready to r-r-rumble.
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An awesome, off the wall action-packed adventure. It's better than the original, bringing back the style, witt, gritt and eye-opening stunts that made the first film work. An explosive, mind-joggling, fast-paced and exhilarating thrill-ride that you will love to watch again.… More
An awesome, off the wall action-packed adventure. It's better than the original, bringing back the style, witt, gritt and eye-opening stunts that made the first film work. An explosive, mind-joggling, fast-paced and exhilarating thrill-ride that you will love to watch again. Another great piece of action movie enjoyment from Writer/Producer, Luc Besson. It's loaded with amazing fights, incredible stunts, lots of bullets, great chases and a wicked story. It's full-throttle action entertainment. Cyril Raffaelli and David Belle are back and kicking more ass than ever. These two guys have great chemistry together, throwing in jokes as well as kicks and punches. It's smart, funny, thrilling and pulse-pounding. An adrenaline-charged great time.
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This sequel to a 2004 French original continues as a showcase for Parkour. Starring David Belle and his mate, Wushu expert Cyril Raffaelli, <i>D13-U</i> is all about stunts, fights and action - very impressive. They make good performances who have the right chemistry for… More
This sequel to a 2004 French original continues as a showcase for Parkour. Starring David Belle and his mate, Wushu expert Cyril Raffaelli, <i>D13-U</i> is all about stunts, fights and action - very impressive. They make good performances who have the right chemistry for this action and sometimes comedy. But Raffaelli has an incredible fight sequences at the start.
Written and produced by Luc Beeson, this is immensely entertaining stuff. it has the breezy vim and vigour of classic Shaw Bros kung-fu movies, complete with dodgy acting, dodgier dubbing and delightfully preposterous scenarios.
My feelings for the French original action film is much enjoyable than this sequel.
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Enjoyable action film. Not as good as the original, but pretty close. There is more plot, and the villains seem more believable this time around. The action scenes are fun, and it doesn't really require the first movie to understand. I wish they had a little more of those… More
Enjoyable action film. Not as good as the original, but pretty close. There is more plot, and the villains seem more believable this time around. The action scenes are fun, and it doesn't really require the first movie to understand. I wish they had a little more of those parkour stunts, because that really excelled in the first one...My favorite thing in this is the female leader of the Asian gang named Tao. She was striking, and kick-ass.
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The talented fighting duo return for a fast moving sequel, whilst the first is hard to beat and isbetter because it's an introduction to their skills, this film is a worthy follow up, with great choregraphy, the right amount of humour and just in general an enjoyable film
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Dumb guy action film that benifits from some spectacular moves from the two leads. Other than a really cheesy and hard to swallow ending the rest works well and is certainly a worthy follow up to the first.
If only some of the stunts didn't remind me of the over the top Crank… More
Dumb guy action film that benifits from some spectacular moves from the two leads. Other than a really cheesy and hard to swallow ending the rest works well and is certainly a worthy follow up to the first.
If only some of the stunts didn't remind me of the over the top Crank films I would have rated it higher.
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Leito: Gotta stay fit.
While not as wonderfully quick paced and fun as the first film, this sequel still provides the solid parkour action that helped make the first film so cool to watch.
Damien and Leito return to District 13 on a mission to bring peace to the troubled sector that… More
Leito: Gotta stay fit.
While not as wonderfully quick paced and fun as the first film, this sequel still provides the solid parkour action that helped make the first film so cool to watch.
Damien and Leito return to District 13 on a mission to bring peace to the troubled sector that is controlled by five different gang bosses, before the city's secret services take drastic measures to solve the problem. It wont be that easy however, because Damien is framed, despite his years of loyal service to the force; and Leito is being hunted, because he has the only proof of the corruption going on from within the government.
The main problem with this film is how much plot they decided to put into this. The first film's great strength was its no-nonsense manner of plotting. That film got underway quick, supplied just enough plot (which was actually fairly strong) and was over in under 90 minutes. Here, we have way too much downtime between the action beats.
However, the action is quite good. The parkour chases are sweet. The fighting is well handled. The humor that emerges is still well balanced with the cool factor. That is really what I wanted, so when I got it, I was very satisfied.
The change in directors is noticeable. While the action is still pretty well handled, in terms of having it set in an urban environment, I don't think the sense of awe involving some of these stunts was handled as well. Still, there are creative fights.
Passable sequel.
(Damien has just jumped into a car through the windoiw)
Leito: You have something against doors?
Damien: Yeah, you have to open them.
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The Parkour and fighting scenes are stylish, and the frantic direction is definitely cool, but the third act is so preposterous that I can't help thinking how stupid this film really is.
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The leads' prowess in parkour and close combat are still wonders to behold but this sequel feels even more like a series of set pieces strung together with an irrelevant plot.
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More of the same but not as fun,some nice action bits but not enough.shame really because the first was such a riot.Still its still worth a look but don't hurry.
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Awesome...TOTALLY awesome action packed flick...this flick loaded me up with so much adrenaline...I am leaving my views for it on here at this time of the morning 3:20am...!!! Arrrrgh! LOL! Snatch this! Here's a video clip:… More
Awesome...TOTALLY awesome action packed flick...this flick loaded me up with so much adrenaline...I am leaving my views for it on here at this time of the morning 3:20am...!!! Arrrrgh! LOL! Snatch this! Here's a video clip:
http://www.moviefone.com/movie/district-13-ultimatum/1428415/main
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Action movie rise, it's still better than a lot of what the U.S releases. There's some good fights and stunts, but this sequel is too similar to first one and not as good.
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I will always love the first B13, but I have always accepted that it was a B level movie with great action sequences. This film brings back the two brilliant leads, and what fun scenes are in this film are fun because of them. However, this did prove my theory that Pierre Morel… More
I will always love the first B13, but I have always accepted that it was a B level movie with great action sequences. This film brings back the two brilliant leads, and what fun scenes are in this film are fun because of them. However, this did prove my theory that Pierre Morel deserves most of the credit for the quality of the original. Belle and Raffaelli are great, but Morel really knew how to use them to their best effect and he made the incredibly fast pacing work. This movie isn't terrible, but it really lacks the magic of its predecessor.
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The Government is corrupt, the police can't be trusted, and there's five bombs ready to blow, who do you turn to?
Leito and Damien of course, as they run up and down walls, drive cars through buildings, get involved in fights ala Chan/Statham (check out the "Van-Gogh… More
The Government is corrupt, the police can't be trusted, and there's five bombs ready to blow, who do you turn to?
Leito and Damien of course, as they run up and down walls, drive cars through buildings, get involved in fights ala Chan/Statham (check out the "Van-Gogh fight"), and make things go all explodey. If you liked the first D13 and you like the Transporter films, this should be next on your list.
It also features a girl fighting by way of weighted-ponytail.
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I must say that it isn't often that you get a sequel that is worthy of the original. I must say that in this case the sequel delivers all of it and then some. I was blown away constantly as the action just never stopped. The story has D13 under threat of being destroyed again.… More
I must say that it isn't often that you get a sequel that is worthy of the original. I must say that in this case the sequel delivers all of it and then some. I was blown away constantly as the action just never stopped. The story has D13 under threat of being destroyed again. The plot is a means to the action and the action delivers. The way the story unfolds is decent enough, doesn't reinvent the wheel by any means but it doesn't have to. It knows what works, Parkour mixed with some wonderful martial arts. It's nice to see that we got people to look forward to now that the greats are getting too old and retiring. If you liked the first this is a must. While seeing the first isn't required to truly appreciate this film, these are still a couple of movies definitely worth watching.
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Absolute belter of a follow up. Okay the ending is a little daft but overall this was more than a match for the original. Alittle less action and roofjumping but what they did do was superb. One scene where the lead boy jumps in to the drivers seat of a little peugeot was… More
Absolute belter of a follow up. Okay the ending is a little daft but overall this was more than a match for the original. Alittle less action and roofjumping but what they did do was superb. One scene where the lead boy jumps in to the drivers seat of a little peugeot was unbelievable.
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Good sequel. District 13: Ultimatum is a little more slicker than its predecessor, but it follows a little too closely plot wise. But, the action is again fantastic, with the 2 leads defying the laws of physics with there fearless stunts and fighting. And I liked the story, even… More
Good sequel. District 13: Ultimatum is a little more slicker than its predecessor, but it follows a little too closely plot wise. But, the action is again fantastic, with the 2 leads defying the laws of physics with there fearless stunts and fighting. And I liked the story, even though it was a re-hash of the first movie.
Read all 20 featured audience ratings
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