As much as I wanted to like this film, I really couldn’t, and I doubt this is something that Paul Walker would want to be remembered for. This film, a remake of the 2004 French film District B13, was his last completed role before his death in November last year.
The story takes place in dystopian future Detroit where a part of the city has been sectioned off, housing gangsters, drug dealers, the homeless, and people who are just trying to get by. The story sets off with Tremaine (RZA), Brick Mansions’ biggest crime-lord, hijacking a military convoy containing a nuclear device that could pretty much wipe out all of Brick Mansion and its inhabitants. Government officials decide to send in undercover cop Damien (Paul Walker), who is out for revenge against Tremaine, and pairs him with local hero for the little people Leito…err Lino (David Belle). Lino is also after Tremaine for kidnapping his girlfriend Lola (Catalina Denis) after Lino disrupted Tremaine’s drug business. Together, they need to disarm the bomb before everyone gets wiped out.
Concept-wise this movie could have been something totally awesome, they could have done anything they wanted with the remake, perhaps giving it a little more edge or they could have just done something different from the original. I feel as though this was a wasted opportunity that was rushed out into theatres before making any sort of changes with the script.
The acting in the film was probably some of the worst acting I have seen in some time, mostly on the part of RZA. I have seen him do better in other movies. I didn’t even know first of all that he was a Jamaican crime lord until he started pulling an accent out of nowhere part way through the film. And then he suddenly drops some Bob Marley lyrics from “I Shot the Sheriff.” That was something that actually blew my mind and I couldn’t believe actually survived the writing room. It just doesn’t fit at all.
Perhaps if this were a comedy. Then, maybe.
Sadly, I felt as though the relationship between Damien and Lino never really clicks and doesn’t live up to the original. It just never seemed believable to me. If perhaps someone else filled the role of Lino? How awesome would it have been if we saw Vin Diesel jumping around rooftops? Diesel and Walker had great chemistry together, but I don’t even think something like that could have saved this movie.
The action scenes in the film were done fairly well — when not using cheesy special effects. The on-foot chase scenes were pretty cool and reminded me of why I enjoyed the original. District B13 was well known for its heavy usage of parkour, which is awesome to see once again in this film.
Sadly, overall, the movie was not a good experience and I really wanted to like it since I enjoyed the original quite a bit. The acting and story don’t live up to the original and the ending will leave you scratching your head, wondering when these characters made a personality reversal. Although the action is decent enough, that is all it has going for it. And it pains me very much to even say that this movie is bad, as I’ve always enjoyed seeing Paul Walker on the big screen in his other movies like the Fast and Furious franchise and Running Scared. But I cannot hold back with this one.
It was awful.
It is regrettable that this is Walker’s last complete film, as I know he is a much better actor than this.