Back in 2004, the relatively small French film District 13 made a big splash. Or at least it made an impact where I originally hailed from. It certainly wasn’t an Oscar contender and didn’t feature the most complex of story lines. Still, it was fun picture notable for introducing Parkour (a free-running, obstacle jumping, movement based skill) to an wide audience. Brick Mansions is a carbon copy; an English language remake that has a few amusing moments but doesn’t improve upon its source material in any meaningful way. It may bring some B-movie enjoyment to new audiences, but to others it seems like a late arrival to the party… ten years late, to be specific.
Moving the setting from Paris to Detroit, audiences learn that lower-class citizens have been separated and left to their own devices in a walled off, crime-ridden district. Parkour co-founder and District 13 star David Belle reprises his role as a heroic citizen living in the slums. When a neutron bomb falls into the hands of drug lord Tremaine Alexander (RZA), he teams with undercover detective Damien (Paul Walker) to locate and diffuse the weapon before it destroys the neighborhood.
There are only a few minute differences. Tremaine’s role is expanded to give RZA more time onscreen. Most importantly, while the fights are well choreographed and put together, they’re shorter and lack some of the more elaborate Park our movements. This is obviously because star Walker was not an expert in performing jaw-dropping acrobatics and flying dropkicks. While he acquits himself well in a few moments featuring fisticuffs, some of his actions are altered to involve driving cars (or occasionally hanging off of them). It’s a new wrinkle, but it feels like an obvious attempt to pander to Fast & Furious fans.
Strangely, there also is a lot of ADR (automated dialogue replacement, essentially lines that are rerecorded in studio) used in the sound mix. It’s a bit clumsy sounding and makes the already awkward statements come across in an even sillier manner. There’s a hilarious bit late in the film that involves a conversation between the two leads. They discuss how to trick their guard at a ridiculously loud level while the thug stands less than five feet away – somehow he is unable to hear them. The cornball script results in a few other laughs, particularly when one of the protagonists emphatically growls, “This is my van!”
Thankfully, the good news is that co-star Belle still has fantastic moves. He’s always impressive to watch as he effortlessly climbs, swings and jumps around various locales, even rocketing through the tiniest of crannies. His co-star, Walker tries his best and at least generates a couple of chuckles by looking equally amazed by his partner’s abilities. And the movie itself is well paced, moving quickly from action scene to action scene.
In the end, Brick Mansions will provide a few midnight movie snickers to very forgiving viewers, but they would be better served by revisiting the original. Frankly, that movie is a faster and more enjoyable ride. The only excuse for not seeing that version would be if you refused to read subtitles. But let’s face it… that script was never full of lengthy soliloquies, so it’s hardly an excuse. While identical in many respects, this remake is a much campier and more ridiculous take on the same material.