Brick Mansions

In 2018, in a dystopian Detroit, abandoned brick mansions from better times house dangerous criminals. Unable to control the crime, city officials built a colossal containment wall that is 40 feet tall and has been constructed around this area known as the projects, or the "no go zone" to protect the rest of the city. Police monitor all movement in and out of Brick Mansions in which schools and hospitals in this dangerous area are shut down. For undercover cop Damien Collier (Paul Walker), every day is a battle against corruption after the death of his father. For French-Caribbean ex-convict Lino (David Belle), every day is a fight to live an honest life.

Lino is hunted by drug kingpin Tremaine Alexander for stealing a massive amount of heroin and emptying it down a bathtub. Lino evades capture and so Tremaine has his men capture Lino's girlfriend. Lino attempts to free her and together they manage to escape and capture Tremaine in the Projects, turning him in to police at the border wall. Initially Lino was deceived by trusted police officials as he was under the assumption that Tremaine was wanted for being a highly dangerous criminal. Lino was not aware that Tremaine had been making payments to the police station as police officials were corrupt.

Formerly trusted police officials allow Tremaine to leave with Lino's girlfriend and lock Lino up in a prison cell. Lino kills a police official in attempt to escape and save his girlfriend. Lino is put in the back of a police van where he meets Damien, an under cover cop playing the role of another prisoner. Damien uncuffs his handcuffs, throws the police out of the car, and then helps Lino to escape. At first, Damien and Lino fight both verbally and physically, but they quickly learn how to work together for the greater good as Damien reluctantly accepts Lino's help and together they struggle to save Lino's girlfriend and stop a sinister plot that involves a stolen bomb set to destroy the entire city.

Moreover, there is also some girl fighting action between Lino's Spanish waitress girlfriend and Tremaine's assistant that portrays herself to be bisexual. To overcome Tremaine is not an easy task as he is an incredibly powerful leader with an army of heavily armed individuals ready to protect him at any cost. Eventually, with the help of Lino and Tremaine, Damien realizes at the end of the film that his father was killed by his fellow officers that he trusted and that the mayor of Detroit was behind the plot. Damien, Lino and Tremaine confront the mayor and manage to prove his true intentions and have him publicly humiliated on the news after compromising plotting an attack on Brick Mansions precedence and then he is arrested.

Brick Mansions is welcomed back into the city, with Damien and Lino continuing their friendship. Tremaine runs for Mayor of Detroit, promoting the idea of equality and freedom.

Principal photography began on April 30, 2013, and the film was released in 2014 by EuropaCorp. Relativity Media distributed the film.[4] Following Walker's death, the North American release was scheduled for February and French release for April 23.[5][7] On February 6, 2014, Relativity and EuropaCorp announced a move to April 25, 2014 as a release date for the film, along with paying the cost of the film's world premiere and distribution.[8]

The first official trailer was released on February 13, 2014, featuring the DJ Snake and Lil Jon song "Turn Down for What".[9] The second full trailer was released on March 20, 2014.[10]

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 25% based on 95 reviews, with an average rating of 4.43/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Choppily edited and largely bereft of plot, Brick Mansions wastes a likable cast on a pointless remake of the far more entertaining District B13."[11] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 40 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[12] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade B+ on scale of A to F.[13]

Critic Jennifer Rodman, considered the film a "watered-down American version, similar in many forms...a huge disappointment".[14] Andrew Pulver wrote in The Guardian, "to be honest, Brick Mansions is not a great film — it kind of skimps on the parkour, the main reason why anyone went to see District 13."[15] Variety's Justin Chang called the film "propulsively entertaining" but was critical of the "aggressive cutting technique" which fails to allow audiences to fully appreciate the stuntwork and movements of the actors.[16] Mick Lasalle of The San Francisco Chronicle wrote, "The movie itself makes that impossible to forget. There are cars all over the movie - car chases, car crashes, crazy driving, a scene of Walker hanging from a speeding car, and even a scene of Walker and another guy going 80 miles an hour when the brakes and the steering give out. Apart from that, there's just the awkwardness of looking at someone on screen and knowing more about him than he knows about himself."[17] Lasalle concluded, "Things start off silly and end up laughable and ridiculous."[17] A. O. Scott of The New York Times wrote, "this movie, a remake of the 2004 French franchise-starter District B13, can be enjoyably crazy in its hectic, cartoonish way" but that it is also "brawny, dumb and preposterous."[18]

• District 13: Ultimatum – sequel to the original (District 13). The film, directed by Patrick Alessandrin and written and produced by Luc Besson (who also wrote and produced the first film), sees parkour artists David Belle and Cyril Raffaelli reprising their original roles of Leïto and Damien.[19]

• Brick Mansions on IMDb
• Brick Mansions at Box Office Mojo
• Brick Mansions at Rotten Tomatoes
• Brick Mansions at Metacritic