Dai si hing

Donnie yen comes back in this film as a teacher. A great and wonderful teacher for certain reasons at that.

He does a wonderful job at potraying someone wise and witty and has gone through a lot of stuff for his age and he shows that he truly wishes to teach his students well.

The film's plot itself might be a little overused and cliche, but it's still a fun and sad film to watch. I would have given the film 9 stars just for Donnie Yen's performance. 8 stars because of the film's plot.

However, the film is still riddled with multiple action scenes, true to Donnie Yen's nature. The fights are exciting and unique as it incorporates modern day popular sports as well as some of Jackie Chan's famous prop fighting that adds to comedy.

Overall, it's 8.5/10 for me. 8 because there's no 8.5 but it's not so good that it deserves a 9.

I went into the theatres expecting a full fledge martial arts movie, but I got more than that. The movie totally blew my expectations away, as Big Brother touches on gender equality, racism and more importantly the flaws in today's education system. The role a teacher plays in his/her students' lives, to inspire and motivate.

Reminds me of the hit Bollywood film, 3 idiots, but with more action scenes.

Have not seen a movie that brings out so many positive messages for a Long time.

Also was not expecting to go into the cinema to see so many people wiping their tears during the movie - a very touching movie with comedic elements and incredible action sequences. A movie with a lot of heart and effort, and deserves to be applauded.

Definitely recommended to be watched in theatres! :)

The main plot of this movie, you seen many times before. Group of hard to deal with misfit students get a new teacher with out of the box methods to try to bring them back in the right path. You could even say that doing this trough karate/martial arts has also be done before, so its nothing new. But having a guy like Donnie Yen could really make it fun and if lacking in originality, it could be just entertaining.

But the reality is ... it turn out not to be really about this. Donnie's character Mister Chen does teach to these kids and help them solve their problems and everything, but the martial art parts seem to be completely on the side. What i mean is that yes there is some VERY well done martial arts choreography like you would expect from Donnie Yen, but not only they happen not that often but they also seem to be added on the side to justify having Donnie in the movie.

He never actually teach martial arts to the kids. What you got is a movie about students with problems and Donnie helping them fix them and making them better students. And in some ocasions an action scenes occur. The problem is the fighting seem completely disjoincted from the rest of the movie, and the "vilains" are completely underdeveloped and appear as an aftertaught.

Yet despite this critics i can't say i was bored or disliked the movie. There is a few parts that are the product of where the movie happen and seem a bit strange for us North Americans, but in general i still found some interest in these kids and Mr Chen. And the action scenes/fights there was were a lot of fun. So i would say i had decent fun with the movie.

Be warned tough that unless i am unaware of it, this movie is only available in chinese language with subtitles. Couldn't find a french dubbed version or even an english dub. Chinese speak fast and the movie is heavy on plot, so prepare yourself to read a lot.

Just like Michelle Pfeiffer's Dangerous Minds, this is a story about a person who wants to bring change in a school. The only difference is Donnie Yen can fight. The movie also address the typical asian school system and how asian students deal with it. Although the general plot is very predictable, the issues are real.

Big Brother is a highly entertaining movie that mixes social drama with some martial arts action elements. The movie tells the story of a veteran with a troubled past who comes back to his former Hong Kong high school to work there as a social science teacher. The school faces several problems such as reduced funds, obsolete infrastructures and difficult students. The protagonist uses quite unusual strategies to help his students and invests a lot of energy and time to solve their individual problems. While he soon gets along with his students, his colleagues and the principal are quick to criticize him and Henry Chen soon realizes that being a teacher might become his biggest challenge yet.

Donnie Yen's latest movie is so efficient because it combines social drama and action scenes in a very balanced way. The plot is quite mature, profound and serious. The occasional fight scenes offer welcome breaks from the intense content. The film convinces with intriguing characters that have troubled pasts. Viewers will connect with the war veteran who was everything but an obedient student, his former friend and antagonist who wasn't given the chance to realize his dreams and especially the students who have serious problems such as poverty, criminality and addictions. The film comes around with life-affirming, optimistic and positive message that are truly inspiring, especially if you are a student or teacher yourself.

Some people might criticize that this film features less spectacular fights than other movies starring Donnie Yen but this reduced and realistic approach suits the film very well. Other people might argue that such an intense social drama would be better off without any big fights at all but the serious content is much easier to digest with these vivid sequences. Big Brother leaves the trodden path, tries out an unusual combination of genres and succeeds almost perfectly to my very positive surprise.

If you like social dramas and martial arts films, you will adore this movie that turns out being one of the best in Donnie Yen's impressive career. The content, messages and vibe of the movie will make you think even long after the movie is over. Big Brother is a film for your body, brain and heart and one of the most positive surprises of the year.