District B13

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

It's great to see action stars cast for their moves -- their grace in motion is thrilling -- but they also have the charisma to pull off the characters.

Time Richard Schickel

Makes everything Hollywood has lately done in the action genre look clumsy, dull and stale. It is a short, nonstop stuntfest that, by going back to basics and placing them on the screen with simple, breathless stylishness, turns what is essentially a lowlife movie form into something one is not embarrassed to call "pure" cinema--all energy, movement and high kinetic wit.

Film Threat KJ Doughton

Think of "Escape from New York" starring two French Spidermen on speed, and you've got District B13, a snazzy, sensational action ride from big-bang guru Luc Besson.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

Like its stunt work, the movie is both ridiculously hyperactive and a muscular feat of absolute confidence. I don't expect to have a more adrenalizing time at the movies this summer.

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

It may be subtitled, and the faces may be unfamiliar, but District B13 is the best buddy action movie around.

The New York Times Nathan Lee

With backing from the film's producer and co-writer, Luc Besson, the director, Pierre Morel, mounts a breakneck B movie inspired by Hong Kong action extravaganzas, the gritty genre classics of John Carpenter and the Thai neo-kung fu parable "Ong Bak." He hasn't reinvented this particular wheel, but he gets it spinning with delirious savoir-faire.

Village Voice Jim Ridley

Spread the word: This delirious import is the most (maybe the only) fun action movie of the summer.

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

This French import is a worthy entrant into the adrenalized cadre of action films like "Run Lola Run" and "Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior" (which Besson produced). What District B13 lacks in story development it compensates for with stunningly realistic action.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

For better and worse, the entire film goes by like a theme-park cyclone ride. It makes as much sense as it needs to when you're on it. All it leaves in its wake is a residue of vertigo and speed.

Premiere Ethan Alter

If you've been disappointed by the recent rash of mediocre blockbusters, District B13 may provide some of the mindless fun you're looking for.

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

Besson takes a few clumsy stabs at political relevance, but it's clear that grand themes are not his priority. That's okay: His charismatic leads are martial-arts masters, and their breathtaking stunts smoothly lift the movie every time it stumbles.

Entertainment Weekly Marc Bernardin

The big innovation here is that the two nimble leads, stuntmen-turned-stars, are devotees of parkour, a fancy French word for the fluid use of urban environments as jungle gyms.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

What you're seeing isn't wire work or CGI -- it's stunt choreography, beautifully executed, flawlessly cut together and brainlessly thrilling.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

Real-life events have overtaken District B13, and they give this feverish, yet oddly flat French action adventure a whiff of substance to go along with its spectacular stunts.

Variety Lisa Nesselson

Fast, dumb fun.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

This is every bit as silly and adolescent as you'd expect from Besson, and about as contemporary as "The Perils of Pauline." But I was delighted by the balletic and acrobatic stunts, some of which evoke Tarzan.

LA Weekly Ernest Hardy

Go for the dazzling, if repetitive, human stunt work. Endure the appallingly simplistic politics.

The Hollywood Reporter Frank Scheck

By most standards, District B13 is a fairly routine summer action movie, albeit one in French. But what makes it unique are the truly amazing and kinetic action scenes featuring Parkour pioneer Belle and co-star Cyril Raffaelli.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

Morel tries to keep the energy up for 85 minutes straight, but the film never manages to top itself, and in spite of the political overtones, it doesn't provide much thematic sustenance.

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

As a brief introduction to Belle and his amazing gifts, District B 13 is a treat. But as a movie its feet are dully planted on the ground.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

Flashy camera work, a clattering techno soundtrack and impressive synchronized stunt work fill where the plot goes AWOL.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

A ridiculous but exciting action movie.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

District B13 is action porn. It's a series of amazingly choreographed, kinetic action sequences tied together by a laughably bad script and worse acting.

Los Angeles Times Kevin Crust

More athletes than actors, Raffaelli and Belle are terrific when their bodies are in motion but the movie grinds to a halt when they open their mouths.

Empire Staff (Not credited)

The cast hurls itself into the comic-book violence, while the stunt choreography and razor-sharp editing are exhilarating.

San Francisco Chronicle Ruthe Stein

If you can still be entertained by a thriller that unabashedly borrows from others of its ilk and don't mind reading subtitles, you could do worse than District B13. It's over so fast, in a quick 85 minutes, there's scarcely time to get bored by the silly plot.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

District B13 looks great, but don't let those subtitles fool you. At heart, it's every bit as proudly dumb as its American counterparts.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Its hackneyed themes prevent the sci-fi flick from feeling like anything more than well-directed mediocrity.