District B13 (2004)

Almost a quarter of a century after John Carpenter came up with the brilliant idea of creating a future where the criminals of the world are kept together in a city all their own in Escape from New York, French filmmaker Luc Besson came up with an idea of his own.

He took the bare bones of Carpenter’s story and added a few twists of his own, like setting the film in Paris, giving the bad guys a nuclear bomb and using parkour-trained stuntmen in his cast.

The result is the thoroughly enjoyable District B13.

For those unfamiliar with the term, parkour is a style of movement that focuses on the fluidity of getting over, around, past and through objects when traveling from point A to point B. Parkour practitioners move from place to place by adapting to and not trying to force their way throuh the objects they find blocking their path.

Or something like that. If you try to intellectualize the theory to much, you will miss the jaw-dropping thrill of watching District 13.

Director Pierre Morel does a great job of capturing all the action. He doesn’t use a lot of quick editing cuts to make the sequences look artificially hyperactive. He’s confident enough to just film the stunt men doing their stuff, which should be a lesson to 99 percent of the directors making action movies today.

When you’ve enjoyed the 85-minute joy ride of District B13, be sure to check out the bonus features and see how the stunts were done without using special effects. It will make you want to watch the movie all over again.

IMDB Site.