06-04-2006, 08:22 AM
District B13: A walled-off anarchistic suburb of Paris full of gangs and corruption.
A nice change-of-pace from the usual martial arts flick. Much of the action involves evasion rather than confrontation. Oh, there is confrontation in places, and it's done very well; but the escape sequences set to loud techno-pop music really work well.
The plot is better than most. Or to put it another way, even though it has gaping holes, you hardly notice them during the film. Only later, if you decide to reflect on matters, do you realize several things didn't make a whole lot of sense.
What also helps you overlook these holes is all the smart characters. I mean, not only are they streetwise (detecting any subterfuge that comes their way), but they can turn on their frontal lobes when they have to.
The first couple of action sequences are the strongest, with each of the two main characters at their focus. After that, things continue to hop very satisfactorily, but you keep wanting the movie to top those opening sequences.
In the end, the two good guys finally succeed as mentors, managing to enhance the performance and extend the network of Clubs in District B13, thereby offering greater numbers of people the opportunity to benefit from the Toastmasters educational program.
http://www.d13tm.com/
--cranefly
A nice change-of-pace from the usual martial arts flick. Much of the action involves evasion rather than confrontation. Oh, there is confrontation in places, and it's done very well; but the escape sequences set to loud techno-pop music really work well.
The plot is better than most. Or to put it another way, even though it has gaping holes, you hardly notice them during the film. Only later, if you decide to reflect on matters, do you realize several things didn't make a whole lot of sense.
What also helps you overlook these holes is all the smart characters. I mean, not only are they streetwise (detecting any subterfuge that comes their way), but they can turn on their frontal lobes when they have to.
The first couple of action sequences are the strongest, with each of the two main characters at their focus. After that, things continue to hop very satisfactorily, but you keep wanting the movie to top those opening sequences.
In the end, the two good guys finally succeed as mentors, managing to enhance the performance and extend the network of Clubs in District B13, thereby offering greater numbers of people the opportunity to benefit from the Toastmasters educational program.
http://www.d13tm.com/
--cranefly