‘The Brothers Sun’ Netflix Series Review - Good Writing, Weak Visuals

There are so many names under the writing credits section on the IMDb page of The Brothers Sun (Justin Calen-Chenn, Brad Falchuk, Soojeong Son, Amy Wang, Byron Wu, Andrew Law, and Ally Seibert). The presence of so many writers in a single project generally leads to a disaster, and The Brothers Sun has its share of flaws. But the writing is also the show's main highlight. It offers so much pleasure that everything else looks serviceable by comparison. What's more, it also exposes the weakness in the direction.

The Brothers Sun is a comedy-action series, and the comedy part comes with nice little setups and payoffs. TK (Joon Lee), Bruce's (Sam Song Li) friend, showers praise on his thumbs; those thumbs are tortured when he is kidnapped. Bruce, Eileen's (Michelle Yeoh) son, brags about his excellent memory before an exam. Later, he is asked to memorize the names of some important gangsters. Alexis (Highdee Kuan), the deputy DA, mixes spices in a chips packet during her introduction, and when she is attacked in a parking lot later, she defends herself by throwing the spicy food on the face of the attacker. All this gives the impression that the series is carefully planned. That it prioritizes cleverness over entertainment. This, however, is not the case. What's so impressive about The Brothers Sun is that it doesn't always show a moment as a setup, and we are unable to predict which scene would come with the payoff

Eileen is your typical Asian mother who doesn't let go of her criticisms, even when she sees one of her sons, Charles (Justin Chien), after ages. Due to an incident in the past, Eileen came to Los Angeles with Bruce while Charles was left to live with his father, Big Sun (Johnny Kou), in Taipei, Taiwan. Big Sun is your typical strict father. When you observe his cold mannerisms, Eileen's presence automatically feels like a warm, gentle hug. That's why Charles and Bruce look so different from each other. The former's body appears as if it's made from rock, while the latter's skin seems loose and soft. One was brought up with discipline, while the other was showered with love. Both Song Li and Chien get their demeanor right.

Charles acts all tough, but his body melts when he tastes churro for the first time. He also likes television dramas, which is why he gets annoyed when a show ends on a cliffhanger. Charles is hard on the outside and soft on the inside. Bruce, on the other hand, is soft on the outside as well as the inside. Eileen wants him to become a doctor, but he wants to do improv. Here comes one of the flaws of The Brothers Sun: It fails to make Bruce's passion for improv believable. At best, it comes across as a diversion. The series also doesn't do much with this point except use it toward the end to fool a police officer. It's a failure of imagination.

On the bright side, there are some moments that come across as "improv" (i.e., they go in an unpredictable direction). When a man finds Eileen in a house, you prepare yourself to witness a hand-to-hand combat. But Eileen surprises the man - and us - by screaming at the top of her lungs. When Bruce notices a man slowly moving towards Eileen with his gun, you expect him to jump in front of the weapon to take the bullet meant for her mother. Instead, he provokes another character to take care of the man with the gun. Even during Bruce's improv performance, we are led to believe that he will be unable to perform in front of the audience. Of course, nothing of this sort happens. These small twists turn out to be better than a big character revelation. Only Bruce is shocked by the narrative disclosure.

What prevents The Brothers Sun from being more enjoyable is the lack of energy in its visuals. When you observe a scene like the one where perpetrators fire guns in the costume of a dinosaur, you ask yourself, "Why are the images so dull?" So much effort is put into the choreography of the action sequences, though most of them come with a whiff of showboating and a lot of exertion. Only one action scene has style, physical grace, and an emotional flavor (it's the one where TK is saved by Charles). Even here, note the song that plays in the background. It is First Cut Is The Deepest, which (if I remember correctly) Charles sings in John Cho's house.

The emotional scenes, too, suffer due to the feeble direction. On top of all this, The Brothers Sun cannot escape that common streaming problem: Tedium. When a show runs for so many hours and is not consistently enjoyable, the viewer becomes exhausted. Still, The Brothers Sun somewhat makes everything worth your while through scenes like the one where old women are used for a rescue mission. And wait till you hear the song that is played when someone rings the doorbell of John Cho's mansion. After all the fighting and teaming up with the rivals, the characters realize that the real enemies are none other than their own family members. A wife betrays her husband; a father sends goons to kill his son. The characters in The Brothers Sun are manipulative and smart, but their predictions don't always turn out to be correct. Their plans are spoiled by the actions of the other characters. All things considered, this show remains watchable even during the tedious stretches. The experience, however, could have been better with more visual excitement.

Final Score- [6.5/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
Follow @vikasonorous on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times