Brick Mansions

Considering I had never heard of this film until about a month before it's release and had low expectations for the movie initially, This movie did surprisingly provide a good hour and a half of B - movie entertainment.I hadn't seen the original film either, So I didn't have any biases to compare it to something else. Now seeing the trailer for district B13, it looks awesome and I'll definitely watch it and than compare the two films. "Brick Mansions" may not have had the best acting or original plot/characters , but it does provide on some inventive and cool action sequences. Parkour, martial arts, fights and eye candy for the guys to look at make the movie a watchable popcorn flick. The stunts and action sequences, especially with David Belle is what stood out and made a fun movie. Only one thing would have made the movie better and that was if it had been rated R. A little more blood and gore shown would have definitely made it a more high impact action flick. Overall, If your looking for a simple and not so demanding action film for a quick 90 mins, I'd recommend it. Take it for what it is and keep your expectations appropriate for a movie like this.

6/10

Dystopian Detroit. Criminal exploits. No name thugs. Guns and drugs. These are probably words, phrases, and tags seen before in other movies, and apt descriptors of Brick Mansions. The movie is a remake of 2004′s french title District B13 and stars the late Paul Walker as police officer Damien Collier. For about a year, Damien has been undercover looking to take down Tremaine (RZA), a kingpin who also killed Damien's father while he was in the line of duty.

Tremaine and crew reside in Brick Mansions, a place so dangerous they built a wall around it to protect the rest of the city. Brick Mansions, once a place of great prosperity, is now a hellhole no man or woman should venture into.

To take down Tremaine though, Damien will need help. Lino Dupree is an in and out con who isn't really a bad guy, but more of a victim of circumstance. As a resident, he knows Brick Mansions like the back of his hand. For Lino, it becomes personal when his girlfriend is taken hostage by Tremaine. To save Detroit and exact revenge, the reluctant duo must come together for a common cause.

Brick Mansions is not going to blow anyone away, which should not be appalling looking at the trailers. It really does possess a straight to home media vibe, from the cast to the direction. But you know what? I did not think it was completely terrible and dare I say I was still kind of entertained, all because I knew what I was getting into. In no way does this absolve the film's problems, and it was not worth 11 dollars, but I have felt much worse spending my hard earned cash on other cinema films.

Let's get right down to the acting, specifically Paul Walker's in his last full role. It is not controversial to call Mr. Walker an average actor, and many of the roles and movies he starred in were never that acclaimed. He knew his limitations, and there is no fault in that. One thing he often had in most roles though was screen presence and silent charisma, which is evident here. It may sound politically correct, but he really is the best thing about Brick Mansions. Likable, endearing, and just a good guy to pull for.

As for the rest of the acting, it is downright abysmal. Maybe a quarter of this is due to the dreadful dialogue, which falls into the typical hard sounding thug talk that is supposed to be realistic and fear- invoking, but comes off as dated and hilarious. David Belle, one of the founders of Parkour, brings amazing physical feats to the silver screen, but his acting chops are nonexistent. To add insult to injury, he clearly struggles with the English language which ends up resulting in horribly dubbed dialogue.

Still, he is not the worst actor in this movie. That title indisputably belongs to RZA. His Tremaine is supposed to be menacing and unflinching, but time and time again he brings the same facial expression to the character, and the dialogue delivered by him may be the worst heard all year. He has no thespian talent, plain and simple, and it is time that Hollywood stop giving this man so many chances. Honestly, there are worse actors present, especially RZA's main henchman who is just as offensive, but none have the billing that RZA does in this.

The plot itself is nothing to write home about, and is somewhat absurd and slightly predictable. Just take it for what it is. There are times late when the movie makes thinly veiled allusions to present day Detroit and the Occupy Wall Street movement, but it basically is a popcorn movie existing to showcase guns, stunts, and fisticuffs. The only big issue had is that everything wraps up too nicely given that the movie was a full on war moments before. As a whole, it is nothing that hasn't been done or seen previously (and better at that), but at least it only last 90 minutes.

There really are some well done set pieces from time to time. Parkour may be a passing fad now, but when done right, it is still a treat to witness, and David Belle moves effortlessly between chasms and rooftops seamlessly. Paul Walker provides more hand to hand and firearm combat, and he looks right at home in this element. Problem is, director Camille Delamarre (Taken 2, Transporter 3, Columbiana) uses terrible framing and janky editing during a lot of these scenes. It is quite sad, as Belle and Walker are clearly doing some good things. For some asinine reason though, this man insists that wobbly framing, needless zooms and archaic Matrix-like slow motion is needed. Not all looked bad, but a more consistent steady hand could have worked wonders.

Brick Mansions is unimpressive, but crazy to say, also enjoyable. Heavily flawed, but entertaining (in a bad way half of the time) and fast paced enough to check out through rental or Netflix. Non action fans should avoid at all costs. With tempered expectations though, Walker fans and action fans may find enough here for mild satisfaction. A perfect film to throw on in the background and not think too much.

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This English-language remake of the excellent DISTRICT 13 was once again made by the French, albeit shot in Canada this time around. It's pretty much a scene-for-scene remake of the original, although inevitably not as good for reasons which we shall come to. It's only as the running time goes on that crucial differences to the original come to light and unfortunately they're not improvements.

First, let's get the good stuff listed. This is a short, snappy, action thriller, with plenty of shoot-outs and fight scenes to recommend it. The framing is often good and there's a fine sense of setting in the grubby, run-down locations. One of the highlights is the return of David Belle, playing the same character as he did in the original; it's just an annoyance that they decided to dub him rather than have him use his French accented English.

Paul Walker is an odd but obvious choice for Cyril Raffaelli's character in the original, but he's no martial artist so the martial arts fights have been replaced by fist fights and a greater emphasis on car chases. Catalina Denis and Ayisha Issa are the requisite scantily-clad women who hang around to show off their bodies and little more is required of them than that.

The problems are slight at first but begin to mount up as the narrative progresses. First off, the editing is horrendous. The early Parkour scenes are ruined by the refusal to shoot the stunts in single, fluid takes; there's always a dodgy edit halfway through, cutting to a different angle and lessening the impact. Sometimes one of Belle's jumps has three or four edits in it which ruins the whole flow of the thing. BRICK MANSIONS does a lot right, but it gets this crucial editing oh so wrong. I remember in the old days of Jackie Chan's 1980s movies that they sometimes wanted to capture a stunt from different angles, so they would just replay it, which was a much better way of doing it.

The second problem is RZA, playing the drug dealer villain of the piece. RZA is one of those guys who really loves himself and the film-makers seem to love him too, so there's an unbelievable twist at the end which has to be seen to be believed. The ending is frankly laughable in this respect, and a far cry from the power of the original movie. It's the epitome of sanitised, PG-13 entertainment, and I could cry. At least the rest of the film is in the right spirit, so it's only the ending where it falls apart.

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.

Acceptable remake filled with nail-biting action , thrills , spectacular scenes and plot twists . It deals with an undercover Detroit cop (Paul Walker) navigates a dangerous neighborhood that's surrounded by a containment wall with the help of an ex-con in order to bring down a crime lord and his plot to devastate the entire city . Thrilling and violent movie with a phenomenal starring pair and in which Paul Walker and David Belle cast all the Stuntmen themselves . Set in the rundown ghettos of Detroit , Michigan , when an undercover cop and an ex-thug try to infiltrate into a block , a police precinct and Town Hall in order to save their barrios when some enemies are bent on destroying the tower blocks at the heart of the District with tactical precision bombing . As Damien Collier (Paul Walker) and Lino (David Belle , the originator of Le Parkour) are reunited upon to avoid a bombing on destroying the blocks at the heart of District and save the city . They have to confront a dangerous delinquent called Tremain (RZA) , corrupt Police Chief from the Department of Internal State Security , and even the highest authorities , including the Mayor (Bruce Ramsay) . With acrobatic skillfulness and adrenaline pumping belief in their own abilities , they throw themselves out from incredible heights, and jump from roof to roof ; locked doors and 'No Trespassing' signs become irresistible challenges . They face off their enemies in order to avoid the total destruction their district , as Damien and Lito convince the gang lords to band together to prevent it when the high command authorizing the strike .

¨Brick Mansions ¨ is an amazing film that packs suspense , thrills, noisy action , shootouts and violent fights . This film is a remake of the French film "District B13" which stars David Belle in the same role as in this movie and again the main couple is unabashed in its dedication to fanboy stunt work . From the beginning to the final the noisy action and fast movement is unstopped , including impressive scenes in which bounds and leaps through apartments blocks and at moments give the impression that they are flying . This is a frenetic rehash of ¨Escape from NY¨ and ¨District 13¨ rightly realized in American style . The highlights of the movie are overwhelming fights and The Parkour , also known in USA as Free Running whose origin was in ¨Yamasaki¨ film directed by Ariel Zeitoun , Julien Seri and also produced by Luc Besson with his production company called ¨EuropaCorps¨ . Paul Walker as a hard-rock , two-fisted agent is top-notch . Duo protagonist , Paul Walker and David Belle , more than make up for in an skill to soar across a rolling medley highrise flats blocks . The way in which the actors prove this abilities , is in fact an activity called Parkour and was invented by David Belle himself , influenced by his father Raymond Belle . David Belle also choreographed some fight sequences . Paul Walker and David Belle had several months to prepare all their fight stunts for the film . Paul Walker stared in "Running Scared" (2006) as an undercover cop , the same role he played in "Brick Mansions" (2014), it's also the character he performed in "The Fast and the Furious" (2001) as Brian O'Connor . Paul Walker's last fully completed acting , although his final film performance was in Fast & Furious 7 which he was filming at the time of his death . In fact , the ending title has a beloved homage : ¨In loving memory of Paul Walker¨ . Good and atmospheric cinematography using Steadicam and zooms with numerous locations from Detroit skyline and slums ; being shot on location in Detroit , Michigan and Montreal , Quebec , Canada . Adequate production design , as the Gate 38 location was also used in Death Race (2008) as a part of the race track . There is an appropriate as well as colorful cinematography by Christophe Collette . The musician Trevor Morris creates a stirring , rousing soundtrack fitting to moving action . Lavishly produced by Ryan Kavanaugh and the successful French producer/director Luc Besson who formerly produced the French versions , these are the followings : District 13 or Banlieue 13 (original title) (2004) by Pierre Morel with Cyrill Raffaelli , David Belle and District 13: Ultimatum or Banlieue 13: Ultimatum (original title)(2009) by Patrick Alessandrin with Cyril Raffaelli , David Belle and Philippe Torreton.

¨Brick mansions¨ was professionally realized by Camille Delamare though with no originality . Filmmaker Camille gives the action a dance-like quality and the whole movie lasted various months for production , idea , script , casting , filming, etc . Rating : Passable and acceptable , though inferior sequel . well worth seeing , this is an agreeable follow-up . The picture will appeal to explosive action fans .