The first time I saw the trailer for Brick Mansions, my initial reaction was “Hey, Paul Walker made a movie that totally rips off District B-13!” If you’ve never seen District B-13, it’s a French film directed by Luc Besson (Fifth Element) that features the king of parkour David Belle doing what he does best. Since the film debuted in 2004, Belle has gone on to choreograph parkour in several major films including The Prince of Persia, Transporter 2 and Columbiana.
District B-13 is a bit weak storywise but of course, that’s not important when you’ve got David Belle and his co-star (who’s not so bad at parkour either), Cyrill Rafaelli, jumping out of windows and literally climbing walls. Rafaelli’s got quite a resume himself, having appeared in films like The Incredible Hulk, Live Free, Die Hard, and The Transporter (2002).
As a friend said once, “parkour done to the sounds of techno, what’s not to like?” As it turns out, Brick Mansions isn’t a rip off but a remake of the French film that appears to try to fix the weak story and stars everyone’s favorite dirty cop, the late Paul Walker. The action also seems to be ramped up a bit.
So it’s now 10 years later and David Belle is reprising his same role and I must say, he’s still as amazing as ever. Now that he has just signed to the major US talent agency Paradigm, it’s looking like he’s finally making his launch as an American action star. And the best part, he doesn’t have to boast (or lie about) how he does all his own stunts in interviews.
Here’s a clip from Brick Mansions of David Belle’s re-enactment of an almost identical scene from District B-13. Definitely looking forward to seeing this one. Brick Mansions opens April 25. (Click the image to open).
[Source: Deadline]
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