Brick Mansions

"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 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.

This film tells the story of a undercover police who infiltrates the most feared criminal world of the city, called Brick Mansions.

Right from the start, the stylish action scenes keep me engrossed. All the seemingly impossible, and almost acrobatic jumps are very impressive. They are quite unbelievable but in a good way, as it astonishes rather than making my eyes roll in disbelief. The plot is great, and there is even an unexpected plot twist which adds to the thrill and urgency to the race to save the city from mass destruction. The late Paul Walker did very well as a dedicated policeman who had his eyes on revenge. I enjoyed this film thoroughly, and I'm entertained throughout.

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

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.