Brothers is a mixture of a historical drama and a military action movie. Based upon true events, it tells the tragic story of two brothers. The older brother protected the younger from a ruthless criminal whom he killed. He had to spend ten years in prison. Upon his release, the older brother decided to throw a party that quickly ran out of control. The two got arrested but instead of being sent to prison, they were supposed to be trained as soldiers by the Kuomintang in the Chinese Civil War. They tried to escape but while the younger brother fled into the woods, the older brother got caught before he could leave. Five years later, the younger brother has joined the Chinese Communist Party and is asked to escort a group of female musicians to a strategically important city. On his way to High City, he gets ambushed by a group of Kuomintang soldiers led by his brother. The two brothers have to keep their cool in front of their colleagues but secretly start talking about what has happened to them. It soon turns out that both of them have drastically changed. The younger brother who was once innocent and naive has turned into a reliable and resilient sergeant. The older brother who was once careless and ill-disciplined has turned into a clever and ruthless leader. Still, the old brother wants to protect his younger brother and tries to prevent by any means necessary that he goes to High City to find certain death. However, the older brother underestimated the younger brother's determination and the two friends soon turn into foes.
One element that immediately stands out with this film is the use of impressive visual effects reminding me of the Sin City franchise. Most shots are in black and white with specific elements being painted in flashy colours such as blood, gunfire or some of the female musicians.
While this approach gives the movie a visually stunning look, it certainly takes away from the gripping story. Despite the serious circumstances elaborated in the plot, the film fails to builds up any tension and plods along for prolonged periods of time. The audience is led to focus on the visual effects and fighting scenes but all other elements remain disappointingly shallow.
The acting performances are rather unspectacular. The two brothers seem constantly overwhelmed by emotions, supporting each other at one moment just to try to kill each other a few moments later. The supporting characters aren't developed very well and seem quite lifeless. Especially the shy love story between the younger brother and one of the female musicians could have been much stronger. The short running time doesn't help in that aspect either. Many characters are introduced on the side and end up dying a few minutes later anyway.
The plot has one minor twist in the final quarter but fails to build upon this element and ends on a bloody but simplistic resolution.
In the end, Brothers is worth to be watched thanks to its stunning visual aspects, its numerous prolonged fighting scenes and its steady pace from start to finish thanks to a concise running time. The plot however doesn't exploit its full potential, the historical elements aren't fleshed out and most characters remain shallow or confusing. Brothers is an entertaining experience and worth to be watched once but overall lacking quality to leave a deeper impression.
