MOVIE REVIEW: "Brick Mansions" (2014)
- Sep 8, 2014
- 2 min read
By Kelly McKinney
"Brick Mansions" starring Paul Walker, David Belle, and RZA, is an Action Crime Drama taking place in the future, where the projects of Detroit are walled off from "civilized society" and labeled the Brick Mansions district. When RZA's character obtains a bomb pointed to Detroit, a Detective is forced to infiltrate the Brick Mansiosn district with the aid of a local Brick Mansions fugitive to stop them.
Overall it was not a bad movie. Without having really done any research before watching it, I was surp[rised to all hell when David Belle's character went Jackie Chan meets Tony Jaa on their @$$es! Not to mention I am a big fan of Paul Walker (R.I.P.), so naturally the beginning kept me watching.
Aside of that and some general laughter here and there from decent writing, the movie lacked in a lot of places. My first complaint is the casting. I understand how RZA might have looked like a good choice for the role, but in so many places, the character portrayed, and how his actions reflected that, were completely backwards. It felt like the casting Directors didn't really understand the character as he was supposed to be. From the start they want to give us the impression that he's a stone-faced killer when he shoots one of his own men and the big guy is afraid of him, BUT, every scene after that portrays him as a dumb pussy, trying to be a politician.
Secondly, why at the beginning does no one know Kung Fu except Lino, and then suddenly everyone does? The fight coreography lacked in quite a few places, like when Paul Walker and David Belle's characters are fighting over a van. All in all, besides the two leads, the casting was pretty off on this one. And back to the kung fu thing. Why does Linos gilfriend and RZAs leathery fem-fatal know kung fu, too? That fight scene was whack, yo!
My final complaint is about the entire second act... It was drug out, un-original, and dull. If you count the times in the movie where they meet up with RZAs character just to run away and decide they need to get back to him, its ridiculous. Basic sequence of events: We need to get to Tremaine Alexander and stop this! Run away! We're outnumbered! (a moment later) Hey, we need to get back there! Let's go after that guy! (a moment later, they're there) Hit a few people and RUN AWAY! AHHHH!!!! (a moment later a few floors away from where they just were) Hey, Wait! Aren't we supposed to be going after him, and not running away?!
I think you see my point. A lot of the parts that should have been really good were rushed, the casting was wrong, and even the little baby knows Kung Fu! (Okay, there was no baby, but if there was, he'd have been kung fu kicking everyone!)
With all of this in mind, I can only give Brick Mansions a 5.8/10. But the "In Memory of" for Paul Walker was much appreciated. Thanks for spending the time on Writer's Block #WritersBlock
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