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Brick Mansions

✭ ✭   Read critic reviews

France, Canada, United States · 2014
Rated PG-13 · 1h 30m
Director Camille Delamarre
Starring Paul Walker, David Belle, RZA, Robert Maillet
Genre Action, Crime, Drama

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.

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What are critics saying?

70

The Hollywood Reporter by

The movie contributes nothing new to the genre, but disbelief is suspended willingly enough once the action gets up to speed.

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.

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

Variety by Justin Chang

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

The Dissolve by Keith Phipps

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

Boston Globe by Tom Russo

The thematic stuff, while well-intentioned, is also clunky, and ultimately beside the point. Action, obviously, is what you’re after.

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