Brick Mansions
Brick Mansions
PG-13 | 25 April 2014 (USA)
Brick Mansions Trailers

In a dystopian Detroit, grand houses that once housed the wealthy are now homes of the city's most-dangerous criminals. Surrounding the area is a giant wall to keep the rest of Detroit safe. For undercover cop Damien Collier, every day is a battle against corruption as he struggles to bring his father's killer, Tremaine, to justice. Meanwhile, Damien and an ex-con named Lino work together to save the city from a plot to destroy it.

Reviews
Flyerplesys Perfectly adorable
Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.
Peereddi I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.
StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.
markaalbrecht OK... Some movies are believable, some movies are hard to believe but possible.... This movie didn't make an attempt to be be either. The acting was so so and all the gymnastics made the movie unbearable; the first fight scene set the tone for the movie. The first 15 minutes felt like an hour and you know you're watching a failed movie when it tries to impress you with unrealistic fight sequences. But to top it all off.... You have a sociopathic, murderous drug dealer who has a change of life at the very end..... OMG.Do not waste your time unless you're watching it for free.....and then try to stomach it.
jimbo-53-186511 Detroit detective Damien Collier (Paul Walker) is sent in to infiltrate a notorious gang led by Tremaine Alexander (RZA). Alexander's gang have stolen a nuclear warhead and intend to use it against those that are living 'outside' of Brick Mansions. Collier is assisted in this mission by ex-convict Lino (David Belle). However, their mission becomes more difficult when Lino's ex-girlfriend Lola (Catalina Denis) ends up being kidnapped by the gang. The two men (who initially don't get along) find that they have to work together to not only rescue Lola, but also to rescue an entire city as well.The problems begin with this film pretty much from the start and the first issue is unoriginality; the start of the film felt like a rip-off of Robocop - the fact that the setting of this film is Detroit (the same setting as Robocop) makes matters worse - it's one thing stealing an idea, but then to have the audacity to use the same city as the setting??. Hmmmm..... very dodgy. It then has a 'haves' vs 'have nots' theme between those in Brick Mansions and those that are 'outside' Brick Mansions. Suffice it to say that this one sentence sums up this concept as it is given no real focus or development. It perhaps would have been slightly better if this aspect had been developed more and probably would have made the film slightly more interesting and much less derivative.The laziness in the storytelling continues as we see Collier saddled with an ex-con as a partner whom he doesn't get along with which is something that we saw 30 years ago in 48 Hours. The scene where Collier fights a load of heavies whilst he's got a steering wheel handcuffed to his hand is something that was done by Jackie Chan in one of the Rush Hour films (I think it was the first one). Now I'll be honest I don't mind unoriginality per se, but if your material is unoriginal then at least try to make sure that your characters have some chemistry, make the action sequences either exciting or tongue in cheek. All these things are lacking here and what you get here for the most part are one-dimensional characters and a dull and lifeless script. This could have worked as a very basic 'buddy-buddy' film, but as mentioned the chemistry is so weak between Belle and Walker that even this basic need isn't fulfilled. The story is also weak, clichéd and not particularly interesting and the lame twist at the end is unlikely to fool anyone. This is a shame because storytelling used to be one of Besson's strengths so I'm at a loss as to what has gone wrong here.The closing credits inform us that this is a French-Canadian production and it's easy to see France's input in this film; parkour (which is a French invention) seems to be promoted heavily in this film, but then again I believe the original version of this film was set in France so perhaps the French are just trying to promote parkour more in the US. Even the action sequences (which could have been the film's strength) fail to excite or do anything we haven't seen before. This film is directed by Camille Delamarre, but he offers the same frantic directional style coupled with slow-motion framing styles that we've seen from Besson in some of his previous directional efforts. It made me wonder if Delamarre had taken some advice from Besson on how to frame the shots. The direction here isn't horrendous, but it's a little too familiar and is starting to look a bit old hat now. Luc Besson has been responsible for many films that I have enjoyed (he wrote the screenplay for Leon and Taken which are two of my favourite films), but he seems to have lost his way lately by churning out this derivative fluff and recently he also released a film called Lucy which was another rather mediocre offering. Even action fans looking for the most basic requirements in a film are going to be disappointed by this rather weak offering from Besson.
LeonLouisRicci Fast Paced Parkour and a Sleek Style are the Attraction in this Remake with Luc Besson's Team of Entertaining Filmmakers. Paul Walker's Last Film is a Fun Romp Full of Fantastic Acrobatics and a Neat Production Design.The Overall Enjoyment of this No-Brainer is Almost Ruined by RZA. He Cannot Enunciate and it is Truly Painful to Listen to Him Speak His Lines. It is Embarrassing and Along with His Non-Acting Presence it is a Modern Miracle that He Still Gets Roles Despite His Irritating Speaking Voice that has the Unpleasant Result in Making the Ears Bleed and the Mind Numb.But there is So Much to Enjoy, Including the Amazing David Belle, in this Non-Stop Chase it Can be Forgiven it's Completely Silly Ending and its PG-13 Rating. It is a Treat to Watch Despite RZA and the Final Scenes.
davideo-2 STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning Damien Collier (Paul Walker) is a cop assigned to infiltrate the Brick Mansions housing project, one of the most violent and dangerous areas, with the assistance of infamous con Lino (David Belle.) Tremaine Alexander (RZA), a notorious drug kingpin whose gang controls the area, has gotten hold of a device that could unleash a missile capable of destroying the entire city, and Collier must retrieve the code to stop it. But everything may not be as it seems...There is undoubtedly greatness in death. When a person is no longer with us, even the most mundane, seemingly least talented person finds their craft appreciated that little bit more, and so we have Brick Mansions, Paul Walker's parting legacy. While it can hardly be viewed as an absolute masterpiece, it is undoubtedly a perversely fitting example of the no brainer, all brawner fast and sweet escapades Walker made his trademark stock in trade.The chances of this breaching it's trade descriptions are as remote as a thousand pound note lying around. It's as loud, brash, noisy and chaotic as the cover promises, but given the limited expectations it sets, it raises itself up that bar by doing it's job in a more pleasing and efficient way than you might expect. Debut feature length director Camille Delamarre manages a tight, engaging pace that never lets up at under an hour and a half, while writer Luc Besson injects the style and veneer he's known for into most of the scenes.His final performance bearing no brunt on it, Walker undeniably displays a mature charisma and panache that was missing from his earlier roles, while RZA is also an effective villain, and between them they forge a good guy/bad guy dynamic reminiscent from the 80s/90s action flicks, before a far flung finale that defies all logic in a none action sequence sense.This is simply so enjoyable and so much fun, a simple, unpretentious short and sweet action fest that doesn't promise anything it can't deliver, and does what's expected in a compact, thrilling and fun way. One of those films that makes you feel the good old days haven't gone away. ****