Brick Mansions

What looks like a tribute to the late Paul Walker, the American version of Luc Besson's District 13 movies is a casualty of timing. Walker was in the process of filming the seventh in the Fast & Furious franchise when he was killed in, of all things, a car crash.

Brick Mansions covers the Besson/Walker territory perfectly - mindless action, clever car chases, nubile women. And then what? A paint-by-numbers plot, with black girls in tight leather on one side and a French roof jumper (David Belle) on the other.

This is Detroit a few years down the line. The mayor and his acolytes want to tidy up the city and get rid of the slum quarter, known as Brick Mansions, which is ruled by a drugs lord, Tremaine Alexander (rap singer RZA), who has a Russian rocket with a dirty bomb aimed at City Hall.

Undercover cop, Damien Collier (Walker) is sent in to suss out the situ. He joins forces with Lino (Belle) and they take on Tremaine's crew. Result: running, jumping, driving, shooting... FAST!!

The authorities are (natch!) evil SOBs. The bad guys are (surprise me, baby!) decent, law abusing citizens of Poverty Hell.

Besson's script could have been written by a donkey. Belle matches anything Jackie Chan did when he was young. Walker still looks like a post grad student and the choreography has attitude.

The film does exactly what it says on the tin. If you know Besson's oeuvre, you know Brick Mansions.

R.I.P Paul Walker. You remained cool in a crisis.

If it's true that nice guys are taken early, pity it had to be you.