In 2010, a Parisian slum (Banlieue) called District 13, is overrun by gangsters, drugs and violence. The authorities have walled off the district and abandoned it, forcing the decent inhabitants to survive without education, proper utilities, or police protection. One resident, Leïto, wages a one-man war against the gang lord Taha to keep his building safe. He has captured a large quantity of cocaine, which incites Taha to send his thugs to recover the merchandise. Leïto destroys the cocaine and uses parkour to evade Taha's thugs. Taha kidnaps Leïto's sister Lola to use against him, but Leïto manages to invade Taha's base, rescue his sister, and kidnap Taha in turn. Leïto takes Taha to the police office at the edge of the district perimeter, but the police are in the process of abandoning their position. They release Taha and allow him to take Lola with him to avoid a confrontation with his gang. In addition, they arrest Leïto, but he kills the police chief in the process for handing over Lola.
Six months later, outside of District 13, an undercover police officer named Damien infiltrates a gangster's underground casino and attempts to arrest the gangster. His extraction procedure fails, however, forcing him to fight his way through an army of thugs to escape the casino. Upon the mission's completion, Damien immediately receives another assignment. He is told that Taha has stolen a nuclear weapon that is set to detonate in 24 hours. His mission is to convince Leïto, imprisoned these last six months for murdering the police chief, to lead him to Taha's base so that he can disarm the bomb.
Damien attempts to pass himself off as a fellow prisoner and helps Leïto escape to B13, but Leïto sees through Damien's act and abandons him. After fighting off some of the local toughs, Damien locates Leïto and admits the truth. They team up to disarm the bomb and rescue Lola. The pair surrenders to Taha in order to gain access to his base. There, they discover that Taha has rigged the warhead to a launcher and is prepared to blackmail the government with it. Taha demands a high ransom, which is refused by Damien's government contact. The pair escape, and while Taha's thugs pursue them, he discovers that the government has emptied all of his offshore accounts. Bankrupt, Taha is killed by his own thugs.
Leïto and Damien fight their way to the tower holding Lola and the bomb. Once there, Damien calls his contact to receive the deactivation code. Leïto recognizes the code as a reference to the bomb's location and the day's date. He deduces that the government has set them up and the code will actually detonate the bomb. He fights Damien to prevent him from entering the code. The timer runs out and the bomb does not detonate, proving Leïto's theory. The pair return to the government building with the bomb and force the administrator to admit that he had planned to blow up B13 as a means to get rid of it. The confession has been taped and is immediately broadcast by pirate television transmission.
The pair's actions cause a major scandal that sparks public support for B13. Leïto and Damien depart as friends, and Lola kisses Damien to encourage him to visit B13 in the future.
See another action collection:
