Banlieue 13 (District B13)
Seen 2 June 2006 at Loews Boston Common
* * * * (out of 5)
A lot of summer movies come off as mindless entertainment. They’re still worth watching, but they don’t have nearly the intellectual interest that some of their filmmakers would like to think they do. What’s even more fun is when a filmmaker doesn’t even make an attempt. They just deliver the fun.
As the film starts, we’re informed that crime in Paris has gotten so bad that in 2010, the worst section (banlieue 13) has been closed to anyone who doesn’t live there, and the police have pulled out, leaving the residents to their own devices. One man, Leïto (David Belle), refuses to give into the criminal temptations around him. We find him destroying a shipment of cocaine, which naturally pisses off the previous owner, a crimelord named Taha (co-writer Bibi Naceri). He sends a band of thugs to smoke out Leïto, triggering maybe the most fun chase scene in a very long time. For a good seven minutes, Leïto doesn’t stop running, no matter what thugs, locked doors, windows or balconies get in his way – apparently following a running discipline called parkour. After a nasty incident with the police, which also sees his sister kidnapped by Taha’s thugs, Leïto is thrown in jail. Six months later, he is recruited to help a special strike against Taha, who has acquired an armed and ticking nuclear warhead. He teams with the equally-impressive Damien (Cyril Raffaelli), the military agent assigned to the job. Lots of fun running and kicking ensue.
One of the great things about this film is that there’s really nothing to it. It’s pure fluff, and it is aware of that. The “plot” is actually just a backdrop for a pretty kickass martial arts demo. The characters have no real depth to them beyond their clear identities of ‘good guy’ or ‘bad guy’. The plot, silly as it is, is only used to get the two heroes into confrontations with the villains.
The thing is… that’s all OK.
Read the rest at HBS!
* * * * (out of 5)
A lot of summer movies come off as mindless entertainment. They’re still worth watching, but they don’t have nearly the intellectual interest that some of their filmmakers would like to think they do. What’s even more fun is when a filmmaker doesn’t even make an attempt. They just deliver the fun.
As the film starts, we’re informed that crime in Paris has gotten so bad that in 2010, the worst section (banlieue 13) has been closed to anyone who doesn’t live there, and the police have pulled out, leaving the residents to their own devices. One man, Leïto (David Belle), refuses to give into the criminal temptations around him. We find him destroying a shipment of cocaine, which naturally pisses off the previous owner, a crimelord named Taha (co-writer Bibi Naceri). He sends a band of thugs to smoke out Leïto, triggering maybe the most fun chase scene in a very long time. For a good seven minutes, Leïto doesn’t stop running, no matter what thugs, locked doors, windows or balconies get in his way – apparently following a running discipline called parkour. After a nasty incident with the police, which also sees his sister kidnapped by Taha’s thugs, Leïto is thrown in jail. Six months later, he is recruited to help a special strike against Taha, who has acquired an armed and ticking nuclear warhead. He teams with the equally-impressive Damien (Cyril Raffaelli), the military agent assigned to the job. Lots of fun running and kicking ensue.
One of the great things about this film is that there’s really nothing to it. It’s pure fluff, and it is aware of that. The “plot” is actually just a backdrop for a pretty kickass martial arts demo. The characters have no real depth to them beyond their clear identities of ‘good guy’ or ‘bad guy’. The plot, silly as it is, is only used to get the two heroes into confrontations with the villains.
The thing is… that’s all OK.
Read the rest at HBS!
posted by Matt S. at
3:36 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home