Banlieue 13 - French Action Flick

The last few months have been dreamy and there is a lot which has happened. Anyway, I am clear about what I want to blog on every day - The stuff which I read, see, hear and surf ! (nothing new)

Will Open with Banlieue 13 : Twitchfilm has this to say

" What is there to say about this film that hasn’t been said here before? The first in what will surely be many starring roles for David Belle and Cyril Raffaelli, Banlieue 13 is a near future actionioner built around the unique and dazzling physical abilities of its two stars. How unique? Well, Belle is the founder of an entirely new extreme sport known as parkour. "...............

.................." Banlieue 13 is, quite simply a ride. Don’t go looking for a lot of depth, but for high energy, stylish action it’s hard to beat. Yes, it is rather front loaded on the action but the action is quite simply stunning. Belle and Rafaelli both get lengthy early sequences to stru their stuff and strut they do. Rafaelli has squared off on screen against Jet Li in the past without looking out of place and here he gets to show the full extent of his skills, leaping, kicking and flipping his way through an angry mob of gun wielding criminals. Belles intro is even more impressive as he leads a mob of angry gangsters on a merry chase over, under, beside and trhough a series of high rise buildings. And I’m not kidding about that at all … Belle’s particular discipline is a mixture of free climbing, acrobatics, and a willingness to fling yourself bodily from rooftop to rooftop. You have never seen anyone quite like him before. Banlieue succeeds were earlier parkour themed films Yamakasi and Les Fils Du Vent fell flat for a number of reasons. First, they found a believable scenario to fully exploit Belle’s unique talents. Second, Belle and Rafaelli both are blessed with natural charisma and screen presence to match their impressive physical skills. Third, their skills are simply stunning – there are no wires are digital effects used to augment the action sequences whatsoever – and, having trained together for years, the pair work together with startling precision. And fourth, the supporting cast is uniformly strong, particularly the villainous Taha, played with scene chewing abandon by one of the film’s screen writers and his chief henchman K2 who strikes a near perfect balance of physical menace, blustering humor and oafish charm."

The movie poster is always an indication of the action movie "paisa vasool" quotient.