TheFast and the Furioussaga is a bizarre animal in the modernactionmovie landscape. Every other summer, anyone looking for a blockbuster without any superheroes in it could turn to Vin Diesel and his fast family for relief. Before Dom took over the franchise as cinema’s least charming breakout character, Paul Walker was meant to be the star of the show. Walker’s tragic passing in 2013 came after his awkward slide to the supporting slot in the latterFastmovies. Perhaps to compensate, he starred inBrick Mansions,a failed pretender to his former throne.
13 years later, is it safe to saythatThe Raid: Redemptionredefined modern action cinema? Gareth Evans' iconic international breakthrough packed some of the most brutal martial arts combat into a claustrophobic high-rise with hardcore police gun violence. It propels itself with an efficiency that never lets its audience breathe. There have been a lot of movies that feel a lot likeThe Raid.Brick MansionsisThe Raidthrough the lens ofThe Fast and Furious, with a stylistic vision that manages to ruin both inspirations.
Paul Walker, David Belle, RZA, and Catalina Denis
97 minutes
Release Date
August 01, 2025
Why does the titleBrick Mansionssound like amovie about Lego? It isn’t related in any way, but the title card oddly looks reminiscent ofLEGO Masters, setting entirely the wrong tone. The titular Brick Mansions neighborhood is a walled-off sector of urban Detroit that possesses so much drug crime that the authorities have resolved to quarantine the problem. The film follows two residents. Lino (David Belle) is a French-Carribean former con who struggles to keep his nose clean and his head above water. Damien (Paul Walker) is an undercover police officer who may be the only good cop in Detroit. Rap icon RZA stars as the one-dimensional villain, Tremaine Alexander. Alexander has the local cops on his payroll, so he uses his private army to lock up Limo as revenge for some stolen heroin. Damien infiltrates the zone to free Limo and take down Alexander before the Detroit area drug lord canlaunch the nuclear bombhe somehow acquired. There are a few fights, a twist or two, and a lot of parkour stunts. It’s an extremely barebones plot, relying on punching and crashing to paper over the cracks.
What isBrick Mansionsbased on?
How wasBrick Mansionsreceived?
Brick Mansionsmade a lot more money than its source material. It earned $73.4 million on a modest $28 million budget.District 13probably failed to earn its production budget back despite costing less than half as much. Critics were unkind toBrick Mansions. Most compared itunfavorably to its predecessor, but even those that didn’t bring up Morel’s efforts seemed to despise the project. It has a 24% critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences were kind enough to offer a 47% positive score, still staying firmly out of fresh territory. The problem is truly in the presentation. For all its stunt work, car crashes, and absurd gun violence,Brick Mansions' choppy editing style kills any excitement. It somehow makes even the real featslook completely computer-generated. That simple change drags the story’s complete lack of quality into view, leaving behind a wreck of a film with very little worth examining.
Brick Mansionsfeels a bit likeFast and Furious’s little brother. It has all the problems of the franchise’s early days with none of the high points. Paul Walker’sfinal film wasFurious7, which remains a considerable improvement onBrick Mansions. Both are available to watch on HBO Max now. Anyone interested in the original work can also findDistrict 13for free on multiple services, including Pluto TV.
