People are voting emotionally.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

The plot of District B13 Ultimatum is a lot sillier than the plot of the original movie, and our heroes are a bit older and as a result they move a bit slower, but this is nevertheless an entertaining sequel that you won't want to miss if you enjoyed the first one. Unfortunately, I did see the dubbed version rather than subtitled, and I'm sure that took away quite a bit of the quality. Even so, there were enough really good stunts to keep me watching for an hour and a half, including a great bit where a car drives through a high rise building. The free running is not as seamless as the original and there's some choppy editing to create the illusion of stunts rather than actually pulling them off, but this certainly isn't as bad of a sequel to a cult action flick as Ong Bak 3 was. I discovered D13-U and saw it on a rainy afternoon when there was nothing else to do and I ended up having a really good time.

The French Secret Service and government get together to plan away of getting rid of the multi-racial crime ridden ghetto of District 13 in order to build homes for the middle class and make sure that no one gets in way of their plan Luc Besson is very much a hero or villain to the French . He can be seen as betraying French cinema or as someone who has brought French films to an international audience . His input to DISTRICT 13 ULTIMATUIM is very small , just writing the basic scenario but all the hallmarks of the visual look of Besson , one of intensified continuity are there For those who are unaware of the term " intensified continuity " it's a type of sharp in your face editing/ directorial style . This makes ULTIMATUIM similar to many other films associated with Besson especially during the action sequences . It also makes it more accessible to a mainstream audience brought up on Hollywood movies . To the French there can be more greater act of treason than emulating Hollywood but this can be forgiven when you've got a film more enjoyable than anything Michael Bay can direct If there's a downside to the movie its set pieces are the selling point and the whole narrative is written around the action scenes . This is a pity because the conspiracy plot did seem realistic to a degree and could have been developed a bit more . You do get a feeling that the conspiracy should linger in the audiences memory where as in reality you'll have forgotten most of the film's more intriguing points as soon as the end titles come up up That said it's a far more entertaining film than the French ones I remember watching on BBC 2 on a Saturday night all those years ago . You know the ones I mean - a bunch of French people standing around in a garden discussing the human condition

Plot: When a corrupt cop and a villainous real-estate developer plan to destroy District 13 by manufacturing a false atrocity then an honest cop and a Robin Hood like criminal have to combine forces, again.The problems with this film are twofold. The first problem is that this sequel is in every way inferior to its predecessor. An excess of plot leaves the two heroes squeezed out, the climax fight/mission is a damp squib, the music is a bad re-tread of the excellent soundtrack of the original, the editing/camera are both far less slick and satisfying, the villains are too bland and the lack of Leito's sister leaves this without an emotional core. There are fun moments, like Damien dressed as a Chinese tranny or a superb parkour sequence when Leito escapes his flat, but there are far too many stupid scenes, like a tiny Chinese cyberpunk prostitute gangster armed with a blade in her pony tail fighting police, or stupid ideas, like Damien's ridiculous tea-cosy hat, or flat moments, like the boring exposition scene between Leito and Damien in an air vent. In particular the plot is too convoluted, in an attempt to disguise that it is basically the same plot as the first film, which leads to the film forsaking the parkour chases and brilliantly realised ghettoes for the tedium of central Paris and bog-standard kung-fu in the third act.The other big problem is the political schizophrenia. The film starts off quite explicit about the results of open borders, globalisation and mass immigration by depicting tribalised, racially exclusive gangs with their own ghettoes. The five gangs are all stereotypes: East Asians (computer nerds), Africans (primitive, tribal), Muslims (fanatical), Skinheads (neo-Nazi) and Gypsy (thieving). The camera lingers on the proletarian squalor, the brutalism of the concrete ghettos and the foreignness of these ghettoised cultures. Yet at the same time it ends with the gangs coming together into one broad multi-cultural alliance (Skinheads and Muslims? Really?) to shame the evil white capitalist French elites and show how they are more French than the French. The conclusion, when the President promises a new district, with parks and jobs, seems like an absurdity. So we get the bourgeoisie leering at the horror of the underclass whilst feeling sorry for them and excusing them as victims. The film can't decide if it wants to be a right-wing fantasy where the criminals get their just deserts at the hands of fascist police or whether it wants to be a left-wing fantasy where the immigrant criminals prove superior to the indigenous population.

Now the first B13 has a passable plot for action movie such as this and didn't take itself too seriously. Which is a positive thing, since it focused more on the parkour action which I am sure most of the audience want to watch. Sure the plot has to be there for the ride, but for a movie such as this it just ain't the main element. But this time around for "Ultimatum" it focuses too much on the plot for it's own good and tries to make it seem like one of those "Bourne" films which doesn't really work. Mainly since the the concept and the direction is still pretty much silly and can't be taken seriously. What I wanted was more of the awesome adrenaline pumped action sequences that was in the first "B13" movie. And for the most part that is what I got out of this, there is some great fight sequences in this and some great parkour sequences as well. But when it came to just talking and moving the plot along, that is where the slow down starts to come in which takes away from the fast paced action scenes. I am not really going to go in depth with the plot, but I will just say it's more of a slow paced and a bit more plot heavy compared to the first "B13". Basically the bad guys that are in high authority wants to blow up the ghetto district, by convincing the president to launch a bomb on the ghettos in "B13" by trying to somewhat frame some of the gangs in "B13". And while this is going on there is some conflict with the gangs and the authorities like the police. There are also more side character this time around, but none of them is memorable at least K2 and his boss Taha was somewhat memorable from the first film. Anyways it's been 5 years for this worthy sequel to come along, and if there is another sequel I hope to not have to wait another 5 years for it. Plus both those two actors and parkour experts are almost in their 40's now, and might slow down their performance with the stunts and all. It would have also been cool if K2 and even Leito's sister made a appearance or even a cameo, but too bad the guy that played K2 died of a heart attack in real life.7.6/10