Blu-ray Review Brick Mansions Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

Brick Mansions Blu-ray Review

Filled with high flying stunts, fistfights galore, and enough rough characters to people a dozen action movies, Camille Delamarre’s Brick Mansions demands an audience that doesn’t think at all about what’s going on but merely sits back and lets its explosion of fights and stunts wash over them like warm milk. It’s kinetic and galvanizing seeing the human body do some of these amazing tricks, and there are certain moments where in the hands of a writer more interested in exploring character the film might have had more than merely a visceral impact, but it’s an exercise in cynical bottom feeding for anyone looking for something other than mere action from a thriller to watch this hokum.

Studio: Fox

Distributed By: N/A

Video Resolution and Encode: 1080P/AVC

Aspect Ratio: 2.39.1

Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HDMA

Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish

Rating: Not Rated, PG-13

Run Time: 1 Hr. 30 Min.

Package Includes: Blu-ray, UltraViolet

keep case in a slipcover

Disc Type: BD50 (dual layer)

Region: A

Release Date: 09/09/2014

MSRP: $39.99

The Production Rating: 2.5/5

It’s 2018 Detroit, and the city government has cordoned off the most lethal section of the city known as Brick Mansions: home to the underprivileged living among violent street gangs running drugs, weapons, and other unsavory dealings with a corrupt governmental watchguard that allows them to enter and leave at will. When a neutron bomb comes into the possession of unofficial mayor of Brick Mansions Tremaine Alexander (RZA) who threatens to launch it into the city if he isn’t paid $30 million, the mayor (Bruce Ramsay) and police chief (Richard Zeman) send in undercover drug cop Damien Collier (Paul Walker) to find the bomb and disarm it with a code he’ll be sent. To work alongside him is neighborhood vigilante Lino (David Belle) who’s already on Tremaine’s hit list for destroying a large shipment of his coke. Lino is especially anxious to get back inside Brick Mansions because his ex-girl friend Lola (Catalina Denis) is being held captive there in the hopes she’ll lure Lino back in to get what he deserves from the boss man.Screenwriter Luc Besson has based his screenplay on the movie Banlieue 13 which he wrote and directed in 2004. This Americanized remake is very typical of Besson’s own action films with violent, hyper-kinetic set pieces abounding and very little intelligence behind them all. It’s the kind of movie where people can crash through walls and not sustain a bruise or a broken bone, where a glass pitcher can be smashed into someone’s face and it not bring forth any blood or faze them in the least. And there is a checklist of things you can expect in this kind of action film: a couple or three fistfights, some high speed chases in some impressive rigged-up muscle cars, some girl-on-girl action (combative, not sexual), and a face-off between the two protagonists and a superhuman-sized adversary (which makes one wonder, where are those multitudes of gang members while this beatdown is transpiring?). David Belle shows off his amazing parkour skills in the movie’s opening action scene where he jumps, hops, flips, and tumbles through, up, over, and down a building (the most recent Casino Royale featured the same kind of impressive display in its opening sequence), and the actor brings them out several other times during the movie when he needs to escape his pursuers. Faced with this kind of acrobatic prowess, star Paul Walker seems rather earthbound though he is allowed some nifty fight scenes of his own with the always advancing hordes of bad guys who are constantly on his tail. (Indeed, throughout the film, the number of gang members serving Tremaine could populate a couple of third world countries.) Besson does work in a momentarily interesting conundrum facing the heroes as their bomb target is approached, but then he ruins it all in a ludicrous wrap-up where some very, very bad guys (who several times previously simply shoot someone who’s served his purpose or who disappoints in not carrying out a mission) become the saviors of the city. In what universe?Apart from the stunts, there really aren’t flesh and blood characters for Paul Walker or David Belle to play, so it’s not surprising they’re both rather stiff whenever there are moments not involving some kind of action (the leaden dialogue doesn't help since it's trying so hard to be cool and flip). Even worse is RZA who delivers lines most amateurishly and with emphasis almost always on the wrong words. Catalina Denis gives it an earnest effort as Lola, the ex-girl friend who’s trying to stay alive, mostly at the mercy of Tremaine’s main girl Rayzah played in vindictive, malicious style by Ayisha Issa. There are talented actors in small roles. Carlos Rota plays drug kingpin George the Greek in early scenes, and that’s Frank Fontaine as Damien’s grandfather who’s trying to beat his smoking habit.

Video Rating: 4.5/5 3D Rating: NA

The film’s theatrical 2.39:1 aspect ratio is faithfully delivered in this 1080p transfer using the AVC codec. Color has been slightly desaturated from the imagery giving everything a rather drab and unkempt appearance (the blood is red enough, however). Sharpness is excellent throughout, and while contrast might meander now and again, it’s mostly consistently maintained. Black levels are very good but not as great as they might have been. The film in both its theatrical and unrated versions has been divided into 24 chapters.

Audio Rating: 5/5

The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 sound mix is one the film’s real selling points since it definitely gives action fans a tremendous bang for their bucks. There are plenty of panning split surround effects as people and vehicles whiz around various locations (the movie was filmed in Montreal standing in for Detroit), and the LFE channel gets a nice workout from the sound effects and from Marc Bell’s hip-hop accented music score. Dialogue has been well recorded and mostly resides in the center channel though there is an occasional bit of directionalized dialogue.

Special Features Rating: 2.5/5

Three very brief and rather superficial EPK featurettes offer the stars and the director talking about the film.

• On Set Action With Paul Walker (2:13, HD): the late star talks about his training for the movie and how much fun this kind of mindless action picture can be to make. RZA and David Belle also praise the star’s efforts in the movie.
• Becoming Tremaine (4:10, HD): RZA talks about his character and his real-life experiences which allowed him to get into character and his enjoyment in playing his second villain in a film. Paul Walker also praises his commitment to the project.
• Brick By Brick (6:06, HD): director Camille Delamarre (in French), and actors Paul Walker, David Belle (in French), RZA, and Catalina Denis express their joy at working on the movie with a dedicated cast and crew.

Theatrical Trailer (2:19, HD)Unrated Version of the Film: this is available for choosing from the main menu.Ultraviolet: code sheet enclosed in the case.Promo Trailers (HD): The November Man, 3 Days to Kill, Oculus.

Overall Rating: 2.5/5

Fans of the late Paul Walker (there is a credit card in his memory at the end of the movie) will enjoy seeing another action-style performance from him in one of his last completed movies Brick Mansions. Action fans will likely eat this stuff up, but one must completely turn off his brain for it to not seem rather silly at many of its most dramatic moments.

Reviewed By: Matt Hough

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