BRICK MANSIONS REVIEW

A ridiculous remake of a French blockbuster that didn’t need to be touched.

This won’t sully the memory of an actor that left us too soon BUT it won’t do much to help it.

Let’s be honest, Paul Walker’s movies were hardly groundbreaking but they were big, dumb and (most importantly) fun. I thought he was a decent actor and I enjoy the Fast and Furious franchise (for what they are).

Brick Mansions was so incredibly stupid and OTT that you can’t help but laugh at it. A guilty pleasure. It’s the sort of film you’d expect to find in the bargain bin at your local supermarket or watch on a Saturday night with a few tins and a curry.

District 13 and District B: Ultimatum were hardly renowned for their fantastic plot lines but how could Brick Mansions make it look like Inception by comparison? What made it was the frenetic free running sequences and high-octane action.

For those who have seen the original; the opening sequence was literally a shot-for-shot remake with Belle doing what he does best. If you were impressed the first time round, you most likely will be again.

It’s a shame that momentum couldn’t stick and Belle’s acting left a little to be desired.

Always find it weird when you’ve watched a foreign film and then you see the actor speak English. I know, multi-cultural. People can speak more than one language.

Nearly every cliché in the action movie checklist was ticked off with this bad boy. The late Paul Walker and District veteran John Belle did their best with the “reluctant cop/street thug crime fighting duo set up”.

Once they got over the playground insults and macho fisticuffs. They even managed to make the laughable lines work to their advantage by the end.

RZA cannot act. It’s bad enough that his villain was naff to boot but he didn’t do anything to make the shoddy lines any better. He was so robotic. Surely he could have used some of that emotion from his rapping days? His only memorable trait being a craving for culinary excellence while unleashing hell.

The only problem was that not much hell was unleashed.

Paul Walker smirked his way through the whole thing. He managed to make it work; embracing the madness and giving it a good old go. You can tell he was having a laugh. Accepting the film for what it was. Mental.

An insane sequence in which Belle and Walker fought a Goliath-esque henchman had enough humour and craziness to subdue my grumbling. The action sequences, when not bogged down with droll dialogue, were fast paced, frantic and utterly bonkers.

A little too much quick cut editing reduced the impact as we saw Walker go for a punch and then suddenly the henchman was on the floor. Disorienting, to say the least. I should have seen this coming from the man who brought us Taken 2 and Transporter 3; the weaker sequel entries. Third time’s the charm? Apparently not.

Director Camille Delamarre managed to deliver one of the most ridiculous and raunchiest punch ups I’ve seen. Seriously, the alluring Catalina Denis’ (The Tunnel) short skirted waitress Lola literally got into one big violent game of slap and tickle with her leather clad adversary, the HOT head case Ayisha Issa (Warm Bodies).

Look, this was hardly going to win plaudits. It delivered the odd laugh, the occasional crash bang whallop and enough cheesy banter to take your mind of the crappy dialogue and silliness of it all.

A guilty pleasure that was laughable for all the wrong reasons.

There was a nice little tribute to Walker tagged on before the end credits.

2/5

As a side note for the 24 nuts out there, I can’t believe ol’ Maurice (Carlo Rota) was in this as a mobster. Brilliant!