Brick Mansions

Note: Before anyone reads, I just want to say, that I send my humble wishes to Paul Walker’s family and friends, who are still in deep sadness over the loss of someone who meant a lot to them. If any of them happen to be reading this review, I do apologize if I offended you in any way for anything I’ve said here. I’m only talking about the film and the film only.

R.I.P. Paul Walker

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                Paul Walker has been recognized by many as one of the best action stars of our generation, as proven in films like “Into the Blue,” “Takers,” and the “Fast and the Furious” franchise. However, the actor sadly passed away back in 2013 in a car accident, leaving behind a legacy that I’m hoping fans will remember years on. Before he did leave us, he was able to at least finish up today’s film, “Brick Mansions.”

                A remake of the foreign film “District 13,” this film takes place in the not-so distant future of Detroit, where crime is at a high (so just basically Detroit), and the most crime infested part has been barricaded. This sector, under the name Brick Mansions, has Detective Damien Collier team up with Lino Dupree, a citizen of the area, so they can find a bomb stolen by Tremaine Alexander before it blows the whole area to smithereens. Now, let me say I thought the film was…mediocre at best.

                While I haven’t seen “District 13,” I can assume it made changes that were approved by both producer/writer and star from the original film, since they took part in the remake. And let’s go over the list of clichés that are so obvious here: Rebel cop; father died on big assignment; cop goes to do father’s last job; villain’s a gangster who runs the turf; cop teams up with resident of area; one of them has a girlfriend kidnapped; there’s a time limit because of a bomb. Yeah, those are only HALF of the clichés that describe the movie. It wouldn’t be so bad, if the clichés used in the film were used to great levels.

                Let’s first talk about the gang leader of the film, Tremaine Alexander, played by RZA. Now the character he was playing is the typical gang leader archetype, being very dangerous with a few quirks, but…the way he talked was just so weird. Throughout the film, it feels like he’s trying to do an impression of Elmer Fudd, saying his r’s like w’s; I just couldn’t take this guy seriously. Another problem I had was they don’t have any focus on the people of Brick Mansions, except for the drug dealers. We don’t see any families that have been corrupted, we don’t see gang beatings, and we don’t even see how Brick Mansions came to be. Hell, we don’t even get a simple flashback of Damien’s father on the job and how it went down for him. It’s a movie! Show, don’t tell!

                As much as I enjoy Paul Walker and his work, I can easily say this was not his best performance. It’s not that he did a bad job; it’s just that his character was so generic and so forgettable. And like I said, I wouldn’t mind it, if the character was interesting or fun. David Belle, who was the star in the original film (as well as the creator of parcore), was just as un-investing; I mean, with what they describe this character and his backstory, I would have let this go if they did show us his life beforehand as well. Again; SHOW, don’t tell! The rest of these characters are either un-memorable or simply disinteresting, so there’s no point.

                As for the action scenes, it’s another film that has shaky cam. Granted, it’s not AS bad as most films have done in the past, but it still gets in the way. To be honest, I was kind of excited with the opening chase scene, and it was really tense and blood-pumping. However, it doesn’t go any further from that, with a few becoming very cartoonish. You know that scene in the trailer, where they fight the big dude and smash his head with a cinderblock? Yeah, he gets hit and you hear birds chirping…I’m not kidding when I say that.

                Half of the stuff they do in this movie, I have to ask one thing: why was this a PG-13? Seriously, if they had made this a hard-R, it would have made this film much more intense if they showed just how violent this place can get with the people in there. I mean, there’s a scene where David Belle is locked in a cell, and pulls a guy’s head through the hole, jumping up to force his weight onto his neck…and they cut to black! Out of all the things you could have done with this scene, the least you could do is just not show the head ripped off, but just the body fall with blood on the bars!

                Overall, “Brick Mansions” is a film that’s not worth the money. If you’re a Paul Walker fan, and you just want to see this film to show respect and support, I can understand. However, I’d suggest donating to his charity foundation as a better option, as that money would be better suited for a proper purpose.

Rating: 4/10