An intense drama on the portrayal of brotherhood, BROTHERS depicts the mistrust and feud between two brothers through the eyes of an investigating police officer. Despite their close relationship, Yiu and Shun were separated at a young age due to a decision made by their father. Years later they meet again when the family runs into crisis where Yiu, inspired by his father's last words, manipulates a series of setups which endangers Shun's life, so as to achieve his goal. The crisis brings the two brothers back together again. However, a series of setups arranged by Yiu causes Shun to flee to Thailand, accompanied by confidantes Ching (Crystal Huang) and Ghostie (Wong Yat-wah). As Shun is caught between life and death, the trust between the brothers is put to a serious test. When Shun finally realizes the true intention of his brother, things are already beyond repair.
Reviews
I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.
This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.
The acting in this movie is really good.
The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.
Need to lower your IQ in order to accept the weak plot.What Gang? Miu, while always called himself a Gang leader/running a triad society, but only one bodyguard, and no one else. Even needs to drive himself, and goes to Thailand to kill others with his own hands! How can he survive for that long? Unbelievable! What cops? They act more like Gang members indeed, insulting, beating clients/suspects all the time. "someone" told them (Andy Lau) there might be drugs and he, without using his brain first, was willing to turn around someone's coffin in a funeral to search, and yet suddenly withdraws because Miu threatened to kill those who disrupt the funeral and all his families! And he even has one of his man's hand almost crushed! Weird.Miu, knowing he has terminal illness and wants his little brother to take over. So what is his way of doing this? He setups his brother, who had gone to police before to accuse another gang boss for killing his father, by letting him to crash that gang boss with his own car! In front of so many witnesses, how can his brother be safe in the future? He even asked his brother to flee to Thailand, so not only will he be chased after by the other gang for revenge, he will also be chased by the police for suspected deliberate killing. That is surely the quickest way of nurturing him. 5 stars! All in all, don't waste your time and money on this film.
In search of Asian organized crime films to rival Johnie To's Election I & II (which have become my standard to which other such films are compared), with more drama, critical relationships, pointed words, clever actions, and tense standoffs instead of shooting, kicking, shouting, blood (why do these HK filmmakers love blood?), and car chases, I rented Brothers (which based on the translations used in the film, may or may not be the proper title), and wanted to like it. A few strong characters, scenes, and story with potential shadowed by poor edits, poor translation, weak characters, and lack of development. The search continues.
'Brothers' is a true to form HK gangster/triad film. I won't get into the plot since previous commenter here did a great job at that.One of the highlights for me was Andy Lau. He gave a great performance, believable in every sense, and has a great presence. Other highlights for me included a stylish chase scene through narrow streets & alleys involving a 3-wheeled motorbike and 2 cars, and the one of the final gun battles which was very well done.There was a lot of dialog in the movie, which I like, but I wished there had been a little more action. It was half drama/half action film, more heavily on the drama in my opinion.Not an incredible film but worthy of watching if you enjoy this genre.
The production values are respectably high for this rather ordinary and typical Hong Kong gangster flick. The requisite shoot-outs and car chases are interesting and hold ones attention, but unfortunately the story lacks that quality. I did like the fact that Thailand could so easily be integrated into the story. I look forward to seeing a HK gangster film with New York City as the venue.For the neophyte this could be a primer for HK movies. There is nary a cliché which is not explored. Filial bonds/obligations, brother love - responsibility to ones family and siblings, an incurable illness, betrayal, the irresistible charm of a "bad" boy, responsibility for ones actions, doing the "right" thing, sacrifice, "good" bad guys, "bad" good guys - it's incredible how they can cram all this stuff into one movie! (There's actually more - much more.) So, the over the top acting is the natural complement needed to put the story over.There's often actions taken (things happen) which keep the story going. Things which have little or no logic - yet, they happen. I often wonder why the writers are so concerned with continuity when the stories have so little logic that continuity really doesn't matter. (It's probably a Hong Kong thing.)As for the phony blood and such, the acting and dialog usually draws your attention and you don't notice it. (Sometimes the translations are as challenging as the plots.)Hong Kong gangster movies can be very interesting and educational, but you can pass on this one.
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