Brush with Danger
September. 19,2014
A painter, a fighter, both artists in their own way. Brother and sister, forced to flee their home, arrive at Seattle inside a shipping container. Trying to make their way in a new world the pair struggle to survive. Until, one day, an art dealer takes an interest in the sister's painting, and the pair find themselves living a dream come true. The sister loses herself in painting, and the brother seizes the opportunity to express himself, as a fighter. But it really is all just a dream. Conned by her patron into forging a Van Gogh. Purchased by a ruthless criminal with a passion for fine art. The brother and sister soon find themselves embroiled in Seattle's criminal underworld and a Brush With Danger.
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Reviews
Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.
The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.
The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful
There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.
BRUSH WITH DANGER is a bright and vibrant indie drama with plenty of martial arts action for fans of the genre to enjoy. In fact, I was surprised at how much I liked this one, given the typical quality of your usual indie thriller. Ken and Livi Zheng, a brother and sister from Indonesia, play a pair of illegal immigrants who get involved the world of illegal fighting and art forgery when they arrive in Seattle. Livi also directs the picture in a bright and professional way. The production values aren't the best but the cinematography is surprisingly good and the framing excellent. The acting is average, as you'd expect, but Norman Newkirk is very slick as the villain of the piece. The story is enlivened by regular fights which are expertly choreographed and very hard-hitting; they possess a cleanness to them which makes them far more enjoyable than most seen in Hollywood blockbusters, and I'd go so far as to put them on par with those found in a Scott Adkins movie.
This film made me sad. I'm an aspiring filmmaker. If this is how my first feature turns out, I don't know if I could be confident in my ability anymore.I watched the premiere in San Francisco, I met the actors and the directors and I want to be clear, they're all very nice, good people that deserve our respect. I wish that made the film good.The cinematography is actually very cool. They play with light nicely, though some of the slow motion was obviously shot in 24fps and then slowed which looks really bad. Also in low light levels they didn't use a denoiser in post so it can also be very grainy. Overall though, it was pretty and I enjoyed that.Acting was pretty bad on all accounts. Especially the female mentor. This weird red head lady that was meant to be likable, but came off as a bit of a jerk. The movie definitely should have been in the native language of the lead actors with subtitles. That would have made this film infinitely better. The broken English made watching it pretty painful. The set design was pretty horrible, very empty. I recognize that as an independent production so that wasn't necessarily their fault. So I tried to look past it, but it still bothered me.The scenes that did have some value were the "street fight" scenes. Some of them were cool, the director obviously knew her way around the space and all the blocking. As far as characters go, the film's lead was fairly unlikeable despite the fact that we were meant to sympathize with her. I'm not sure if that was the acting or the writing. The plot wasn't that original either, but what is these days?It's an enjoyable film, but if you're going to put 90 minutes into a film, this definitely wouldn't be my first choice. As a courtesy I'll mention a few other titles that are better with about the same length:1. Bridge to Terabithia 2. The One I Love 3. Identity 4. Short Term 12 5. Moonrise Kingdom 6. Little Manhattan 7. Brief Interviews With Hideous Men 8. Coherence 9. 127 Hours 10. Stand by Me
If you love action and Martial Arts films, Brush With Danger is a remarkable achievement. The Indonesian brother/sister team of Livi and Ken Zheng put the project together in their early 20's. Both Martial Arts champions, Livi is the producer, director, writer, lead actress while Ken is co-writer and lead actor. Featuring exciting and realistic fight sequences, it is rare to see a female action lead and ever rarer to see a brother-sister team battling together on film. Former 27 year Baltimore police officer Nikita Breznikov lends credibility to the role of the detective in the film and he also served as Casting Director. Livi and Ken have a warm screen presence, have already filmed a second feature, and I believe they are going to be major forces in the film industry in the years ahead.Evan Ginzburg, Associate Producer of The Wrestler, Host Legends TV & Radio
"Brush with Danger" is one of those rare movies set in Seattle that is not shot in Vancouver, BC. Not that there's anything wrong with Vancouver, but for me it greatly adds to the authenticity and integrity to see settings I know are in Seattle (Pioneer Square etc.) than some nondescript, generic streets that could be in any city, say, for example, Vancouver B.C. "Brush with Danger" is extremely entertaining in a very human way. We care about the characters and this is unique for a marshal arts movie that so often relies on a series of spectacular and CGI-enhanced action to keep the audiences' interest. Also, I do not recall one crashing car or slow-motion explosion. "Brush with Danger" is a "feel-good" movie in the best way.
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