I guess you have to call this film a sequel; I can't imagine it making a grain of sense to anyone who hasn't seen the 2004 original. It's a sad effort; not just because it doesn't match its predecessor. Where B13 was bright and glossy despite the funk, the sequel looks dingy; where B13's cast was uniformly vivid and memorable (right down to the guy with a mouth full of panties) the sequel gives us anonymous bodies in motion, then halfway through deploys a mob of half-imagined, ethnic-stereotyped "good guys" who are given nothing much to do, dramatically or physically. Without Bibi Naseri (Tata), Tony D'Amario (K-2), and their gang, there's not one memorable face, let alone memorable character. Where in B13 David Belle looked fresh and omni-competent, you can see that five years has taken its toll on his looks and his skills. He's now old enough to play a complex character with a face to match, but all he's asked to do is play sidekick to co-star Cyril Raffaelli, who barely gets enough screen time to make an impact. The film runs just a quarter-hour longer than B13 (101 minutes) but seems twice as long and half as much fun. Only thing notable about it: the WORST English subtitles (clearly translated from Chinese) since the heyday of the Shaw Brothers.
The DVD of B13-Ultimatum is boxed with the original. If you already have that, don't buy this one, just rent it.
The DVD of B13-Ultimatum is boxed with the original. If you already have that, don't buy this one, just rent it.