MANILA, Philippines - At the time of his tragic demise, Paul Walker was trying to raise funds for victims of Typhoon Yolanda through his organization, Reach Out Worldwide. The actor had always expressed his love for the Philippines, and now we get a chance to honor this kind soul as his last completed film, Brick Mansions, opens in cinemas on May 7, released by Viva International Pictures and MVP Entertainment-Philippines.
Walker plays Damien Collier, an undercover cop who is sent to penetrate Brick Mansions, a community with the most dangerous criminals, and ruled by a deadly drug lord named Tremaine (RZA). Collier finds an ally in Lino (David Belle), a fearless, acrobatic ex-convict who is out to rescue his kidnapped girlfriend. Together, they learn of Tremaine’s plan to devastate the whole city, and to keep it from happening, they must set their differences aside. But the battles Collier and Lino are faced with are more fatal than expected.
From the producers of The Transporter and Taken, explosive action can be expected from this remake of the French film, District 13. The movie is loaded with stunts called “Parkour,†described as “an art of moving through an environment as swiftly and efficiently as possible using only the human body to overcome obstacles.â€
French actor David Belle is one of the co-founders of this discipline. According to director Camille Delamarre (editor of Taken 2 and 3), David showed him many videos. He says, “It is very impressive, a true spectacle done without special effects or wires, performed by nonprofessionals who are unafraid to jump from one roof to another. It was clear that on top of being astonishing visually and physically, Parkour is a really authentic discipline and that’s what we tried to honor and show in this film.â€
Walker was full of enthusiasm in learning Parkour. In an interview, the late actor declared, “I ultimately learned how to do a dive roll from eight feet.â€
Walker also called Brick Mansions a great collaboration with Belle, stating that all throughout the film, they tried to make it “more visually dynamic and funny.†The film is also filled with car chases, gunfights and plot twists, which Walker’s fans will love.