Banlieue 13

This is enormous fun if you're prepared to treat it as a dark comedy. The main idea alone - that civil unrest in the French capital could lead the walling-in of problem districts - has gained relevance since the film was made (in 2004), yet even the addition of corruption to the (admittedly slim) plot fails to get in the way of a tremendous film.

The (anti)heroes are very much of the indestructible, cannot-be-hit-by-bullets mould, rising unscathed and unbruised from endless series of hugely impressive stunts. It's all frankly ridiculous but done with such energy that it's very hard not to go along with it. With Tarantinoesque violence and any number of clichés (matches that refuse to light, anyone?) to its name, Banlieue 13 comes across as a genuinely thrilling experience.

Leave your brain behind and enjoy.

(9th July 2006)

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