Review of Brick Mansions (2014) by Thequietgamer — 16 Oct 2014

Exciting pakour and fun action are present, but the real appeal for many here is going to be Paul Walker (R.I.P.). Unfortunately he seems wasted in this film. It's the very definition of a dumb American remake, that will probably leave even the most forgiving Walker fan disappointed with one of his final projects.

It's even more disappointing if you've watched the excellent source material, District B13. Our leads (Belle and Walker) give phoned in performances. It's as if they weren't trying because they knew how terrible their dialog was and how much dumber the twists to the story are. It's cool seeing the changes they added to certain scenes from the original, but the changes to the plot drag it down. Some of them make literally no sense, some depth is lost, and it all just feels rushed thanks to missing context. They really botched it in this department.

However the action mostly delivers. Like I said the parkour is exciting, and easily the best part. The fights are fun and take on a more brutal feel than the original's. They both easily make the film at least watchable, if not entertaining.

It's a very disappointing movie. It makes bad changes to the original movie, fails to take advantage of it's great leads, and is nowhere near as exciting as those trailers made it look. That being said there is some fun to be had here. It'll be worth a rental for the more forgiving action movie fans, or just those who want to see Paul Walker again. Just don't expect it to live up to District B13, or deliver with it's at times idiotic plot. Come for the parkour and for Walker, and you should at least be entertained. I know I was despite my overall disappointment. My total score is a 6.2/10.