Who Asked You ... Movie Review - District B13

Distrtict B13

Directed By: Pierre Morel ("The Transporter")
Starring: David Belle and Cyril Raffaelli

Everyone has heard of the Hollywood action flick. Most have heard of Hong Kong action pictures. But when was the last time you heard of a French action pictures.

If your answer is 'no' then you are probably in the majority. There have been successful (and good) French action films in the past such as "Le Femme Nikita (Nikita)" and "The Professional (Leon)". The one common thread among almost all successful French action-adventures has been producer and sometimes writer sometimes director Luc Besson.

Besson, who only just gets more attention for his films in American than he does for his ill-fated celebrity marriage to Milla Jovovich, is the auteur behind the Jason Statham vehicle "The Transporter" and the not nearly as good as it should have been "The Fifth Element". His films are typically high on action and low on story. His common themes include principled yet highly flawed heros fighting for what is right often under vigilante conditions. His female characters tend to be quite strong and yet at the same time still be damsels-in-distress. In others words, nothing new to American audiences.


In the case of "District B13" there is something fairly new about the use of Parkour as the dominant style of fighting/stunts. Parkour is the French discipline/martial art/extreme sport of fluid movement through complex obstacles at the highest possible speed. You may have seen stories about it on the likes of Dateline NBC a few years back. Specifically, this makes for a great deal of climbing, jumping, dodging, and bouncing at a very high speed. This discipline is used to great effect in the film to bring an overwhelming level of freshness and coolness to what could have otherwise been a very stale and cookie-cutter movie. David Belle a co-star of the movie is, in fact, the discipline's co-creator.

I won't get into the acting, plot, or social message. They are not the point. This film is great fun and will be an eye opening experience to action fans who are tired of the same old same old.