While District 13's co-writer/producer Luc Besson made his mark with such coolly smart action-thrillers as La Femme Nikita and Léon, his directorial presence over the past decade has been slim to say the least. However, as creator of chock-socky-inspired actioners including Unleashed and the Transporter films he's proved positively prolific.
Here, despite handing directing duties to fellow Frenchie Pierre Morel, Besson's penchant for the frenetically absurd is stamped on every aspect of the paper-thin plot. It's Paris 2013: the city's violent, criminal and anarchic fraternity is segregated from the rest of the populace in a heavily policed compound. When the ghetto's most powerful renegade gang hijacks a neutron bomb, a falsely convicted felon is forced to team up with a super-cop to retrieve it before all hell breaks loose.
Although this is nothing more than a bastardised version of Escape From New York, Besson knows sometimes audiences simply want to disengage their brains and allow adrenalin to power their viewing time. Which is why the relentless movie's Molotov-mix of narcotics-fuelled violence and flawlessly choreographed action sequences are so on the money it hurts.
Add to that cohesive performances from Free Running (those gravity-defying dudes who race across rooftops) founder Belle and professional stuntman/martial artist Raffaelli, and you're looking at the ultimate in carnage-strewn entertainment.
OUT 7 JULY
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