70
The movie contributes nothing new to the genre, but disbelief is suspended willingly enough once the action gets up to speed.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
42
Entertainment Weekly by Adam Markovitz
It's fun to watch at first. All that twirling and sliding is a nice change of pace from the usual seat-shaking pyrotechnics.
67
The A.V. Club by Ignatiy Vishnevetsky
It’s a beat-for-beat remake of a movie whose plot was never meant to do anything except get characters to jump from rooftops, made by a less confident director (Camille Delamarre, one of the studio’s go-to editors) and set in a culture Besson has never been able to grasp. It’s also a silly pile-up of exaggerated action clichés—and much of the time, it’s pretty fun.
40
The parkour is breathtaking and the plot twists are off-the-charts ridiculous.
20
New York Daily News by Joe Neumaier
The film is put together too choppily to appreciate the bounce-off-walls athleticism of parkour. That’s a shame, since “District 13” star Belle is known as a founder of the sport.
60
Delamarre knows his way around an action scene and keeps the proceedings moving briskly enough, even if the picture clocks in at about 10 minutes longer than its taut, 81-minute predecessor.
50
Whenever it features feet flying through the air, Brick Mansions is a pleasure. Asked to do anything else, it’s one stumble after another.
25
San Francisco Chronicle by Mick LaSalle
Faced with a story that doesn't make much sense, the filmmakers switch gears and try for a sociological statement - something about the marginalized and the neglected. This makes for a funny last five minutes, but sad, too, because Walker was better than this, even if his movies sometimes weren't.
50
McClatchy-Tribune News Service by Roger Moore
Mansions is like “Vehicle 19? or “Takers,” dumb, noisy junk.
50
The thematic stuff, while well-intentioned, is also clunky, and ultimately beside the point. Action, obviously, is what you’re after.