Brick Mansions

I saw the original back in 2006 and absolutely loved it and its sequel. I had high expectations for this purely because I always wished they had made a third and when I saw Paul Walker was involved I had hoped this remake would be on par or better. Unfortunately I was wrong. While Brick Mansions is not a terrible film my viewing was ruined due to my love of the first one which this is almost a shot for shot copy of. My love of the French original may have set the bar too high it seems. Also my only major personal gripe is the voice dubbing of David belle. For some reason it struck a nerve with me and I could never really appreciate any scene. If you're looking for a good way to blow 2 hours or haven't seen the original by all means go see it but for myself this was just not what I had expected. Solid 6/10.

In a near future Detroit, the crime-ridden ghetto of Brick Mansions has been walled off from the rest of the city. The mayor is determined to redevelop the isolated neighborhood. Lino (David Belle) is an acrobatic vigilante determined to take down drug lord Tremaine Alexander (RZA). Tremaine kidnaps his ex Lola to use as bait. Lino is captured by a corrupt cop who he ends up killing. Undercover cop Damien Collier (Paul Walker) is tasked with recovering a stolen military neutron bomb which is set to go off in ten hours.

This is an Americanized version of District B13. I liked the Euro campiness and the action of B13. The return of Belle helps with both. The Parkour is fun and ridiculous. It's all joyously stupid action. It actually takes a step down when a serious Paul Walker comes onto the screen. He lacks the stupidity and the campiness. The movie actually doesn't need his initial undercover sting. He's a little better when he pairs up with Belle. Quite frankly, Walker's character is not strictly needed. There is a twist about bomb which is very obvious. It would help to not have the mayor do his evil villain thing so early on. I do like that Lola is no damsel in distress. She's a great bad azz. This works best with Parkouring Belle with his Euro campiness although what's he doing in Detroit is beyond me.

"Banlieue 13" was one of the best surprises I had in 2004. This movie is pure adrenaline; actually one of the best action movies that I have recently seen. The greatest attractions are the performances of David Belle and Cyril Raffaelli. David Belle is co-inventor of the sport known as Parkour, "which consists of moving freely in a natural area, including climbing on buildings and taking on whatever is in the way". Cyril Raffaelli is also stunt coordinator and stunt. Together, they are awesome, with amazing choreography that recalls Jackie Chan when he was young. The direction and the story are also good, hooking the attention until the very last scene.

"Brick Mansions" is a bad remake or "copy-paste" and a poor legacy of Paul Walker's filmography. He did not deserve this turkey as his last (and least) movie. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "13° Distrito" ("13th District")

In case you are wondering, I did see several years ago the French movie "District B13", which is the original movie that lead to this remake. However, I have completely forgotten what it was like - though that fact does make it easier to judge this remake on its own terms instead of comparing it to the original. Despite this perspective, the movie just didn't do it for me. There is a strong whiff of the movie "Escape From New York" here, as well as to a lesser extent "Robocop" and other Hollywood movies, so there isn't a feeling of originality here. The script also suffers from the fact that neither the protagonists or antagonists are that compelling or particularly fleshed out. I know, I know - the script really doesn't matter in a movie like this. What matters is the action and other kinds of eye candy. Well, the movie doesn't do that well on those angles as well. The action (which is so-so at its best) is rapidly edited to try to hide the fact the actors can't pull off multiple moves in the same shot, and obvious stuntmen are used for the few trickier moments. And while the movie was a co-production between two countries (France and Canada), the movie often has a cheap look and feel to it. It's obvious why this movie did unspectacular business at the box office, though why the late Paul Walker apparently saw promise in this project is a question we may never learn the answer to.

I like the good cinematography, even the opening credits alone already made me liked it. David Belle is still very cool with his spins, back-flips, jumps and other stunts. It has been 10 years but I don't see any degradation of his parkour skills.

Paul Walker did good as Belle's partner-in-crime, even though he can't do parkour, he still kicked-ass. Catalina Dennis who plays Belle's girlfriend is consistent with her character, a tough girl who doesn't stand still with unfair treatments. The lousy one is RZA who plays the drug lord Tremain. Well, in my opinion he can't act, his face expression just doesn't make it.

For those who like parkour but haven't watched Banlieue 13, this might as well be in your watchlist. It's still okay even if you have watched Banlieue 13 (like me), because it was in French and it felt quite weird, even with subtitles.