Yamakasi - Les samouraïs des temps modernes

The YAMAKASI are a bunch of kids who practise what is variously known as Parkour and Free Running, a sort of sport/art/philosophy involving the development of skills for the traversal of urban environments in interesting ways (http://www.parkour.com/).

YAMAKASI the film is a Luc Besson production that basically provides a vehicle for 7 of these kids to show their stuff, in the pretence of helping a young kid who needs a heart transplant. It actually feels rather like a kids film, with larger than life characters (a bit of a keystone cops thing going on) and a message about being a bit rebellious but in a good way, or something.

The group are real life practitioners of Parkour, not professional actors - which kind of shows, though not in a particularly bad way - they're not wooden, but don't exactly express deep or complicated emotions.

Given that the film is basically a vehicle for Parkour, it's somewhat disappointing that not all that much of it is shown. There's some building scaling which is impressive but not particularly cinematic, then a bunch of antics where very little "free running" is shown - there are just a couple of scenes which show the potential the film could have had, towards the end. That potential has recently been realised much more dramatically in the film BANLIEUE 13, where one of the founders of Parkour is teamed up with martial artist Cyril Raffaelli for some truly original and sometimes incredible action sequences which show how Parkour could really be the foundation of a whole new action style. It's a shame that YAMAKASI, for whatever reason, didn't seem to know what to do with it. I'm hoping that the semi-sequel LES FILS DU VENT will put the group's talents to better use.

Statement andrew Jakobs,Holland:

"Well the ending really sucked. It didn't leave me with good feeling, Hmmm cop pointing gun at the doctor (who only drew the gun because he was being threathed by the gang, And I think he was in his right),"

I offer a quite different opinion:

The doctor was a arrogant,self-centred imbecile(high class), who had no regard for other peoples life than his own kind. He deserved to be reminded that all life is sacred regardless of race & class. And the cop quit his job in protest of a system that represses the weak in society. So the ending gave us a piece of moral justice, which sometimes is better than what the law can offer.

All in all the movie is good entertainment,nothing more or less.......

Yamakasi is a refreshing change from Hollywood style films. It's not Besson's masterpiece, the story is not THAT original, but the music, the cool "action" and the fresh style makes it a worthwhile experience.

The story itself is about 7 modern samurai, "yamakasi", that try to help a dying boy by stealing money from rich people in order to buy a donor-heart.

The action, although there isn't as much in it as the trailer would led you to believe, mostly consists of the yamakasi running away, climbing buildings, doing crazy jumps, and other stunts involving pedestrians.

Rating: 7/10

Although I am not an arrogant french man, who "poo-poos" all movies except for "masterpieces" I do know entertaining cinema when I see it. Yamakasi is a very entertaining movie, written by Luc Besson (Fifth Element, Leon, The Transporter) The action sequences, stunts, and storyline are more than enough to keep the average movie buff happy. I enjoyed this movie quite a bit as I kept the mindset of an action movie. Don't go to action/adventure movies and expect "Lawrence of Arabia" or something as equally epic.

Very enjoyable

Although i do not understand French, this movie has the ability to show that performing crazy stunts CAN be done without the use of Special effects and computer animations. This movie makes SPIDER-MAN and the MATRIX look realistic and without the millions of dollars used to actually make the visual effects.

Rating 10/10