Review of Blood Brothers (2008) by Andrew C — 23 Feb 2008

What's with all the negative reviews? another TIFF favorite of mine, although not as good as Exiled or Flash Point, but still very good. produced by John Woo and Terence Chang, it's the directorial debut of Alexi Tan, and he handles it quite well.

it's loosely based on John Woo's 1990 film Bullet in the Head, and I think people are trying to compare it to much to that film instead of enjoying it. it has good acting from most of it's key actors, mainly Daniel Wu, Chang Chen, and Liu Ye.

a lovely musical score, and all around great production values. it doesn't feature as much bullet-riddled action as the handful of John Woo's HK films, but it's really more of a drama. the action that it does have, although usually quite brief, is all done well by Philip Kwok, especially the finale.

and at 90 minutes, it never overstays its welcome. certainly recommended!