District 13: Ultimatum

DISTRICT 13: ULTIMATUM (2009) - May 8, 2010
A disappointing sequel.  This one finds the last film's two protagonists uncovering a government conspiracy (in a storyline that ultimately becomes a really clunky Iraq war critique -- Harriburton?  Really?).  The film is decently made and entertaining enough; the main problem is that it tends to get really bogged down in the government conspiracy shenanigans -- there is an absurd amount of exposition in this film.  Just get to the fights and the parkour alreadly.  The other problem is that the film is surprisingly light on action -- what is there is decent enough (though a bit heavier on the old shaky-cam/quick-cutting than I'd like), and there are actually a couple of pretty exciting sequences.  But there's nothing that can even hold a candle to the exhilerating chase scene that opened the first film (though there is a scene that tries really hard to replicate that), or some of the other action set-peices from the original.  This was a passable action film, but given how awesome the first movie was, it's definitely a disappointment.  **1/2