Paul Walker’s final completed movie

" Brick Mansions " / Europacorp Photo: Philippe Bosse cell 514.932.4355 www.philippebosse.com

" Brick Mansions " / Europacorp Photo: Philippe Bosse cell 514.932.4355 www.philippebosse.com

Published Oct 24, 2014

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BRICK MANSIONS

DIRECTOR: Camille Delamarre

CAST: Paul Walker, David Belle, RZA, Catalina Denis,

CLASSIFICATION: 16 LV

RUNNING TIME: 99 minutes

RATING: ***

 

 

PAUL WALKER plays cop Damien Collier who goes undercover in a Detroit ghetto that’s been enclosed by a wall to keep the undesired element contained.

With the help of a prisoner, Lino (Belle), he infiltrates gangster Tremaine Alexander’s (RZA) operation to find and disarm a stolen bomb and hopefully neutralise the bad guy.

French film director Luc Besson co-wrote the script, drawing on the script he wrote for Banlieue 13 (District 13), 10 years ago. If you have watched the original French film, this will be a straight rehash, minus the zany quirkiness of the various gangsters in the Paris ghetto.

Lino’s voice seems to have been dubbed, which jars though nowhere near as much as the truly bad dub job for French sequel Banlieue 13: Ultimatum, which was ridiculous.

David Belle is the founder of parkour and the fight scenes in this film are very entertaining, though they never descend into slapstick. Belle makes it look easy and organic and Walker keeps up in his own way. The film is dedicated to Walker, it being the last completed film he finished before his death last year. It is a fitting tribute and there is a great scene in which for once Walker is the one who rolls his eyes at someone for doing something in a very dangerous way, then finds a more sensible alternative.

The scattershot plot is merely an excuse to get the two characters into a space they have to negotiate through. There is the merest of hints at a deeper theme of the conflict between social class, but it is not the focus. That would be the fight scenes which rely more on editing than they do on the two stars’ abilities, which reflects poor judgement on the part of the director and editor.

When you are done, find the original and that will turn this Hollywood version into merely adequate – Banlieue 13 is a crazy, guilty pleasure, a thrilling adventure ride pumped up on adrenaline where this safe English version is simply laced with an artificial energy drink.

 

If you liked Crank or The Mechanic, you will like this.

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