Sunday, April 27, 2014
Michael Allen
Writers: Luc Besson and Bibi Naceri.
Cast: Paul Walker, David Belle, RZA, Gouchy Boy and Catalina Denis.
Brick Mansions is a remake of the French film District B13 (2004). Actor David Belle, the originator of Parkour, stars in both films and a sequel to District B13, titled District 13: Ultimatum (2009). All three films deal with a post-apocalyptic cityscape. As well, Brick Mansions continues to be shot in French locales, with the original shot in Paris and the remake shot in Montreal, Quebec. This second film is less gritty than the first and the PG-13 rating for the remake does not help with any sense of realism. Full of half-cocked political messages, Brick Mansions is a fairly standard action thriller, with Camille Delamarre's camerawork a little off-setting.
This title takes place in 2018. In the future, parts of Detroit have been walled off, due to the unpoliceable nature of the streets. Chaos runs rampant in the district known as Brick Mansions. But, a drug dealer, Tremaine (RZA), is uniting the local gangs for an assault on City Hall. Somehow, Tremaine gets a hold of a nuclear device and a cop, Damien (Paul Walker), is set in to disarm his apocalyptic toy. Tremaine, Damien and Damien's criminal partner, Lino (Belle), fight amongst the ruined tenaments, for well over an hour. There is no clear winner.
Brick Mansions is a fairly solid action thriller. The focus of the film is on fighting sequences, car chases and gunplay. Story elements like character development and subplots are minimized. All of the flash and bang is weakly set up. For instance, the film's first sequence involves Lino and the destruction of drugs. Why is Lino destroying the drugs and why is he fighting Tremaine? These questions are answered later. But, plot points are not developed early. Instead, a ten minute action scene, involving Parkour, begins the movie. Brick Mansions is more explosive action, compared to anything else.
There are a few political messages housed within the film's final act. Just like in real life, Detroit is bankrupt and politicians are corrupt. The film mimics the real life tragedy of Detroit fairly well. As well, the criminality of the city is captured in the film's populace. There are no normal or productive families in this title. Instead, everyone is a drug dealing gangster or killer. But, in the film, the populace of Detroit rebels against politicians and government workers, late in the picture. This libertarian approach to the climax was appreciated by this viewer. But, most of the political messages fall a little flat, or are underdeveloped.
The film would have been better served with more story elements and fewer quick camera cuts. Paul Walker's character Damien is only given a few scenes, to strengthen his character's backstory. Damien has lost his father to the criminality of the streets. But, Damien's time is mostly spent leaping from building to building, or ducking gunfire. Damien is not a very well fleshed out protagonist; other characters get even sparser treatments. Also, director Delamarre shoots a few action sequences a little too sporadically. Cuts come quickly and the camera is moving around all over the place. This shooting style takes something away from the well choreographed action. And, Delamarre and the editing team do not include enough long range shots to show Detroit's ruin and chaos. It would have been interesting to see more wide shots of criminals running rampant in the streets, to amplify the story's tension and believability. Still, Brick Mansions is a fairly indie affair and cuts had to be made somewhere.
Brick Mansions is the last film completed by actor Paul Walker. Walker died in a fiery car crash in late 2013. His final scenes in this title show Walker behind the wheel of a luxury sports car. These scenes are foreshadowing for what was to come for this jet setting actor. As well, the film is dedicated to Walker's memory. But, some of Walker's fans might not see Brick Mansions as one of Walker's highlights, nor as a proper eulogy. He had many other, more interesting roles including 2006's Running Scared. In the end, Walker's legacy left a solid footprint in the action thriller genre, but Brick Mansions is not one of his best films, despite some of the film's lighter moments.
Overall: 6.5 out of 10 (lots of well choreographed fight sequences, the best acting comes from Walker, characters are mostly flat, action sequences are toned down to keep a PG-13 rating).
Fans can find more on the film at the Brick Mansion's homepage:
Brick Mansions at Tumblr
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Posted in: 2014,action,action thriller movie preview,post-apocalyptic,preview,science fiction,story,synopsis,thriller
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