I saw the first one around the time Devin went nuts for it. I bought Blu-Ray back in the spring and then I bought the sequel just recently.
The first one is just a fun thrill ride from beginning to end. It knows what it is and it does it well. It doesn't take itself seriously which is what makes it so great. I really like the relationship between Damien and Leito. I like the chemistry too and how well Cyril Raffaelli plays the "straight man" in Damien.
Devins closing paragraph in his review is spot on:
Some of that still applies now. And I'm actually slightly surprised that B-13 hasn't been remade yet for American audiences. I guess it didn't really catch on enough to warrant but I'd fear to see what it would look like.
As for the second one, I enjoyed it. It's essentially the first one but with a different ending. I liked the semi-car-parkour part but the ending is a little weird to me. I know it's an action movie but Leito letting the President destroy buildings seems a little off. Why not just demolish them properly? Bombing them, to me, would seem to confuse the people who lived there and make them mad.
"They just blew up our homes!"
"No, no! We're destroying them to build NEW homes for you all! Better homes!"
"You fucking liar!"
"No, I'm being serious!"
"Why not just tell us that and demolish the buildings properly! Our belongings were in there!!"
But again, it's a parkour, action movie, I'm over thinking the ending.
I don't really know why a sequel was made. Obviously the first one was a hit so a sequel was needed! But it just seemed like there was no need to continue on unless they had come up with a slightly different story line.
The first one is just a fun thrill ride from beginning to end. It knows what it is and it does it well. It doesn't take itself seriously which is what makes it so great. I really like the relationship between Damien and Leito. I like the chemistry too and how well Cyril Raffaelli plays the "straight man" in Damien.
Devins closing paragraph in his review is spot on:
Quote:
| The world's cinema is catching up to, and maybe even overtaking, America's. Once it was just that foreign films were more serious and adult than American films, but now Japan is making horror films better than ours and France has turned out the single best action film of 2006, bar none. Hollywood - stop remaking these foreign films and stop your bloated explodofests. Luc Besson and District B13 are issuing a challenge - take them up on it by making bare bones action films with heart, energy and maybe a message. Just don't bother making Batman vs Superman. |
As for the second one, I enjoyed it. It's essentially the first one but with a different ending. I liked the semi-car-parkour part but the ending is a little weird to me. I know it's an action movie but Leito letting the President destroy buildings seems a little off. Why not just demolish them properly? Bombing them, to me, would seem to confuse the people who lived there and make them mad.
"They just blew up our homes!"
"No, no! We're destroying them to build NEW homes for you all! Better homes!"
"You fucking liar!"
"No, I'm being serious!"
"Why not just tell us that and demolish the buildings properly! Our belongings were in there!!"
But again, it's a parkour, action movie, I'm over thinking the ending.
I don't really know why a sequel was made. Obviously the first one was a hit so a sequel was needed! But it just seemed like there was no need to continue on unless they had come up with a slightly different story line.
