Review of Brick Mansions (2014) by Rj H — 20 Sep 2014

Set in a violent near-future in Detroit where a rough ghetto called Brick Mansions has been segregated from the rest of the city, this film is a remake of the 2004 French film District 13 and stars the same French free-running star David Belle.

The late Paul Walker plays an undercover narcotic cop but story and plot are sparse as we follow the standard action beats as drug gangs and cops fight, drive and smash everything they can to get the job done.

One of the major problems is that everything is so glossy it doesn't feel cinematic in the slightest - sadly just as superficial as the paint jobs on the American muscle cars it features. This glossy presentation conflicts with the gritty style they're obviously aiming for so the movie has an advertising feel to both the film stock and editing.

And what is it advertising exactly? Shoes or cargo pants, probably. In addition, the kinetic street gymnastics of parkour make the fight scenes look even more choreographed than a regular movie whilst RZA as a crime lord is about as scary as Lenny Henry's Delbert Wilkins.

I suppose the most remarkable thing is how unremarkable it is and when an early high speed car chase around a city centre ends in a crash for Paul Walker watching his co-passenger fly through the windscreen, it all foreshadows real life and feels a bit eerily macabre.

4.5/10 Midlands Movies Mike.