I Found Cool Stuff - Chapter 20: DISTRICT B13
Strangely enough, I have Ong Bak 2 to thank for this one. In the previews for OB2, there was an ad for "District 13: Ultimatum", which looked pretty neat. Curt did a little research, found out that it was a sequel to a movie from 2004, and looked up the movie on Netflix.
He came to me the next day and suggested, nay DEMANDED that I watch this film. Curt, it should be noted, is pretty picky about his entertainment, so an endorsement from him is worth its metaphorical weight in gold. So I watched District B13 myself as soon as I was able.
Holy divine-figure-of-choice on a crutch and ten stitches, Batman! This was fantastic!
You know how in France, there are slums/ghettos where riots have occurred, and racial tensions are high, crime is somewhat on the heavy side, and some french political figures have veered towards disturbingly fascist "keeping France french enough for French people" rhetoric? Take that note, add two action heroes armed with La Parkour and Kung Fu, and a Neutron Bomb for a macguffin. Stir well with a production credit to Luc Besson. And enjoy.
David Belle (one of the founders of the modern La Parkour movement) plays Leito, a man born and raised in the slum of B13, which has been literally walled off and left to die by the french government. He's managed to stake out an oasis of relative peace and safety in said slum, using his general badassery to keep the drug dealers away. The first thing we see him doing is flushing a million dollars worth of heroin down a bathrub drain, which we're told he stole from a ganglord. He fights his enemies with Parkour-style use of his environment, peppered with dashes of strong kung-fu.
We're also introduced to Damien, played by Cyril Raffaelli, a hard-ass undercover cop -- and a very successful one at that. He fights his enemies with strong kung-fu, peppered with dashes of Parkour-style use of his environment. Wow, I was really subtle about that. :)
I'm leaving out a lot of plot in the setup, because I want you to see this for yourself, but the eventual thrust of things is that a ganglord has stolen a Neutron Bomb from a government shipment, and accidently set off the timer. Damien has 24 hours to get into B13 and disarm the thing, and he needs to recruit Leito to help him, who knows B13 better than anyone, and has strong reasons of his own to go after that ganglord, as revealed in Leito's intro.
Much of the film's drama comes in the conflict between the two protagonists. Leito is utterly disenchanted, with cause, with the notion that The Government Is Here To Help. Damien is a true believer in Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, and has always operated on the basis that Justice and Law applies to absolutely everyone. The way this plays out, and the utter gutpunch to its french audience, is a joy to watch.
Equally so is the fight choreography. If you have even a passing interest in La Parkour, you should enjoy watching people navigate their way through this urban sprawl -- and if you have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about, GOOGLE PARKOUR RIGHT NOW. Short form: Parkour is an athletic mindset and style of movement where people treat their environment as an obstacle course. Running, jumping, rolling, diving, and otherwise badass-ing their way from point A to point B. Rooftop running? Check. Jackie-Chan-style rebounds up and over walls? Check. Acrobatic leaps and turns through impossibly narrow or hazardous spaces? OH hell yes check. Did you ever see the opening of the new Casino Royale, where bond chases that bald guy all over the city, and the bald guy is diving through windows and off rooftops like a superball? That's Parkour, and in fact that bald guy was one of the other founders of Parkour (with David Belle, above).
Seriously, find this movie right away.
He came to me the next day and suggested, nay DEMANDED that I watch this film. Curt, it should be noted, is pretty picky about his entertainment, so an endorsement from him is worth its metaphorical weight in gold. So I watched District B13 myself as soon as I was able.
Holy divine-figure-of-choice on a crutch and ten stitches, Batman! This was fantastic!
You know how in France, there are slums/ghettos where riots have occurred, and racial tensions are high, crime is somewhat on the heavy side, and some french political figures have veered towards disturbingly fascist "keeping France french enough for French people" rhetoric? Take that note, add two action heroes armed with La Parkour and Kung Fu, and a Neutron Bomb for a macguffin. Stir well with a production credit to Luc Besson. And enjoy.
David Belle (one of the founders of the modern La Parkour movement) plays Leito, a man born and raised in the slum of B13, which has been literally walled off and left to die by the french government. He's managed to stake out an oasis of relative peace and safety in said slum, using his general badassery to keep the drug dealers away. The first thing we see him doing is flushing a million dollars worth of heroin down a bathrub drain, which we're told he stole from a ganglord. He fights his enemies with Parkour-style use of his environment, peppered with dashes of strong kung-fu.
We're also introduced to Damien, played by Cyril Raffaelli, a hard-ass undercover cop -- and a very successful one at that. He fights his enemies with strong kung-fu, peppered with dashes of Parkour-style use of his environment. Wow, I was really subtle about that. :)
I'm leaving out a lot of plot in the setup, because I want you to see this for yourself, but the eventual thrust of things is that a ganglord has stolen a Neutron Bomb from a government shipment, and accidently set off the timer. Damien has 24 hours to get into B13 and disarm the thing, and he needs to recruit Leito to help him, who knows B13 better than anyone, and has strong reasons of his own to go after that ganglord, as revealed in Leito's intro.
Much of the film's drama comes in the conflict between the two protagonists. Leito is utterly disenchanted, with cause, with the notion that The Government Is Here To Help. Damien is a true believer in Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, and has always operated on the basis that Justice and Law applies to absolutely everyone. The way this plays out, and the utter gutpunch to its french audience, is a joy to watch.
Equally so is the fight choreography. If you have even a passing interest in La Parkour, you should enjoy watching people navigate their way through this urban sprawl -- and if you have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about, GOOGLE PARKOUR RIGHT NOW. Short form: Parkour is an athletic mindset and style of movement where people treat their environment as an obstacle course. Running, jumping, rolling, diving, and otherwise badass-ing their way from point A to point B. Rooftop running? Check. Jackie-Chan-style rebounds up and over walls? Check. Acrobatic leaps and turns through impossibly narrow or hazardous spaces? OH hell yes check. Did you ever see the opening of the new Casino Royale, where bond chases that bald guy all over the city, and the bald guy is diving through windows and off rooftops like a superball? That's Parkour, and in fact that bald guy was one of the other founders of Parkour (with David Belle, above).
Seriously, find this movie right away.