Director: Camille Delamarre.
Starring: Paul Walker, RZA, David Belle, Gouchy Boy, Catalina Denis, Ayisha Issa, Carlo Rota, Robert Maillet.
Certificate: 15.
Running Time: 90 minutes.
Synopsis: An undercover Detroit cop navigates a dangerous neighbourhood that’s surrounded by a containment wall with the help of an ex-con in order to bring down a crime lord and his plot to devastate the entire city.
Luc Besson seems like an incredibly busy man, churning out a couple of scripts or stories per year on top of his directing duties. It seems like the reason for this massive activity could be that he just stops after the first draft and thinks to himself, ‘that’ll do’. At least that’s the evidence on hand in the mess that is BRICK MANSIONS.
The film is a remake of DISTRICT 13 (also conceived by Besson) and the plot is largely the same, transported from the ghettos of Paris to the ghettos of Detroit. This reviewer has not seen the original, so this review will only focus on the remake, but BRICK MANSIONS makes absolutely no sense. The various plot holes are so insanely large that it is a wonder no one involved in the production at some point stopped and asked if maybe they should just take five minutes to think this through. The acting is also largely dull from everyone involved. Paul Walker (in what was sadly his last completed performance) and RZA are both passable without really stretching their abilities as they play to their stereotypical strengths as the clean-cut, honest cop and the hot-headed crime lord. David Belle (reprising his original role) is largely hampered by the fact that he doesn’t speak English very well, to the extent that he was dubbed over by Vin Diesel, which may attribute to some of the horrible ADR work apparent throughout the film.
Being a fairly straightforward action film, these issues would account to a whole lot less if the action sequences were even mildly exhilarating, and with this being a film involving a fair bit of free running and gun fights (David Belle being one of the founders of the Parkour movement), it seems like it has all the ingredients of a fun, classic popcorn movie. Sadly the action sequences are equal parts mind-numbingly dull and confusing. This is largely due to the atrocious editing which is all over the place, frequently disorienting the viewer, and not in the ‘this is done sparingly on purpose to help create a sense of action and chaos’ kind of way but more in the ‘this is the first time I’ve ever edited an action sequence and I don’t even know what an action film is’ kind of way. This is especially frustrating considering the fact that director Camille Delamarre started out as an editor on several Besson penned/directed films such as COLOMBIANA, TAKEN 2 and the surprisingly fun LOCKOUT, which should have enabled him to make sure that at least that aspect was competently done.
Overall this is a film that will often make you laugh out loud with an incredulous ‘WHAT!?’ over the absolute lack of sense from both the plot and the characters. While some people may go for that kind of thing, it doesn’t change the fact that it is for the most part a very boring and shoddily made film.
[usr=1] BRICK MANSIONS is released in UK cinemas on Friday 2nd May, 2014.
