Besson’s Banlieue 13 aims to please action fans

Luc Besson’s Banlieue 13 (“District 13”) will be coming to North America. The science fiction actioner was a fairly big hit in its native France and has played elsewhere around the world. Besson, the prolific French filmmaker, wrote and produced B13, while Pierre Morel directed; Morel had previously worked with Besson on The Transporter, as had lead actor Cyril Raffaelli.

Banlieue 13 is set in the crime-ridden ghettos of Paris, 2010. Parts of the city have been walled off by the government to contain the lawlessness, and District 13 is one of the worst areas. The story follows a vigilante named Leïto (David Belle) and a young martial-arts-trained cop named Damien (Raffaelli) as they take on the nefarious crime lord Taha. Taha has acquired a neutron bomb for some evil scheme, and he must be stopped before he puts that plan into action.

What makes the film stand out is its emphasis on creative, acrobatic stunts during the fight scenes. Co-star David Belle, in fact, is the founder of Parkour – a freestyle athletics movement that combines running, dancing, martial arts, and aerobatics in the navigation of difficult obstacle courses.

Source: IGN Film Force, Written By Paul Davidson