This movie is simply terrible. It glorifies smalltime thugs, who break into houses, steal works of art, and threaten a doctor with violence.As the morons they are, they insult one of the people they are stealing from, for not listening to the loud, obnoxious and clichéd rap music that they like.Luc Besson tries to tell the story of a group of youth down on their luck, who work together to help someone, but the reality is really different, and this is what makes me uncomfortable. They are not guardian angels, they're just thugs, who use threats to get what they want.

The movie had a good plot : what can we do to save a life without being an outlaw? In the movie, basically it's said that either you are rich and live or you are poor and you have to steal to survive. 2h of pursuit between the group of self-called "yamakasi" (the good ones who act illegally sometimes) and the police (the bad ones who act legally most of the time). The dichotomy is unfortunately not more subtle. The battle between the robbers and the police. Nothing new. I found that the major problem of that movie, or rather the main reason why I feel I've just wasted 2hours of my time, is that it raises more questions (not difficult ones...) than it gives answers - not in a philosophical attempt to make people think. When a hero saves a child, I like the hero to be likable, and the characters in the movie are complete jerks (the yamakasi and the police alike). The thing is although I have nothing against a movie which expose how our whole system is badly made and how stupid the police is, I find irritating when a group behaves violently and think they're cool (the movie is made so that the youth in France think well of the yamakasi characters although they act violently). More importantly maybe, they had the chance to offer a new look on Paris ghettos (the movie takes place in Paris, I'm from Paris myself and the characters are from the well-known little ghettos here) and it was just a lot of "clichés", so there again nothing new.The movie could have been much more than what it simply is : an okay action movie. Don't expect anything else. Oh, as far as the movie as an art, there are a few enjoyable and well-filmed scenes, especially since the main actors are very good sportsmen and practice "parkour".

Yamakasi - Les Samourais du Temps Modernes is a step down the evolutionary ladder for Luc Besson's production company. Produced but not directed by Besson, who fired the original director, it's about a gang of extreme sports street kids who climb buildings for fun. When a hero-worshipping kid has a heart attack imitating them by climbing a very, very, very, very small tree, to show what socially responsible blokes they are they decide to get the $500,000 he needs for a heart transplant by robbing the doctors. O-kay... They then show how on-message they are by making up the shortfall by forcing the hospital doctor in charge of the care to pay it himself by threatening to kill him. So that's all right, then.Cue lots of ingenious robberies, right? Er, no. Cue not much at all. One fun scene dodging a couple of guard dogs and one clearly faked rooftop jump shot from restricted angles and some limp jokes is really all. Forgetting the dodgy morality (it's okay to steal from doctors because they're all rich scum anyway!), this is weak stuff. Stylishly shot but like most Besson films light on character, plot and most of all action - not a lot happens in its 85 mins and there are really very, very few stunts. The main point of interest is that almost all of the main characters aren't white for a change - black, Arab and Chinese origins abound. But at the end of the day this has no more edge than BMX Bandits or an average episode of Byker Grove or even (according to my dad) an old show called The Double Deckers that The Children's' Film Foundation used to churn out.

There's nothing noteworthy about the story. Very thin plot--I even felt the story was forced just to have a film on the yamakasis. Plot/conflict is based on an incredible story of a boy needing a transplant because of an accident? Why? There could have been a better plot for the yamakasis since they are not really misfits and/or outlaws. They're just extreme sports lovers who are in it for the adrenalin rush.Enough said about the plot. Yamakasi is basically about amazing stunts and maneuvers. They are breath taking! Yamakasi stunts defy gravity and inertia. True to it's subtitle, "Modern Samurais/Ninja" Who thought flying can be for men too!? For the stunts and (literal) flying... this film gets my thumbs up.