Quartile rating: 6/10 · 1 rating
Yamakasi - Les samouraïs des temps modernes is a 2001 French movie written by Luc Besson. It demonstrates the skills of the Yamakasi, a group of traceurs who battle against injustice in the Paris ghetto. They use parkour to steal from the rich in order to pay off medical bills for a kid injured copying their techniques.
Yamakasi is most notable for being one of the earliest mainstream films to showcase parkour/freerunning as a central cinematic spectacle, giving it genuine novelty — the Yamakasi group's real-world athleticism captured on film in Paris was unlike almost anything audiences had seen in 2001. The cinematography rises to the occasion during the chase and climbing sequences, capturing the fluid, gravity-defying movement with energy. However, the plot is fairly thin and formulaic (Robin Hood-style heist with a sentimental sick-child motivation), the acting is largely functional rather than distinguished (the group are athletes first, actors second), and the ending resolves too neatly without much dramatic weight. A landmark for parkour culture on screen, but uneven as a rounded film.