Leofwine_draca Apparently a reworking of John Woo's BULLET IN THE HEAD - not that you'll recognise much of it - BLOOD BROTHERS is a film made with a lot of effort behind it. The sumptuous 1930s settings are brought to life in a similar way to BOARDWALK EMPIRE, and the costumes, sets, and everything else is quite exemplary. Plus, they've brought in actors of the calibre - and popularity - of Daniel Wu, Shu Qi, and Ye Liu to act in the production. It has to be good, right? Well, no, not really. The problem with BLOOD BROTHERS is that the storyline is extremely simplistic, concerning only half a dozen or so main characters who end up betraying and falling out with one another as the story progresses. It's way too slow-moving and simplistic for the running time, meaning that much of this is rather dull, despite the best efforts of those involved. The acting is fine and there are a couple of exciting scenes, but overall the director is sub-par and the story feels routine and all too familiar.

dbborroughs Three friends from the sticks go to Shanghai and become gangsters in around the Paradise club. As time goes on and they climb up the ladder they find their relationships tested.Replace Shanghai with Chicago or New York and you'd have an Oscar nominated film for the art direction and costuming. This is a great looking 1930's gangster film moved to China and its a joy to behold. Its one of those movies you'd like to use as a moving piece of art on the wall.Unfortunately the script is really lacking. Dialog is sparse and not very colorful. Its almost bland retread dialog and it takes the edge off things. the characters are less then thrilling. The look the part but they don't have much beyond the look to carry them. Worse is the plot line which is a tad been there done that, but also really lacks any real action. yes there are some beatings and shootings but nothing really large scale until the final half hour, or rather the final shoot out. There is no real action to lift these characters up and put them into a a heroic or anti-heroic pantheon- there is nothing that makes them larger than life. It could be argued that the film that looks this good, opulent and often epic, but is ultimately a small scale story over inflated. had this been filmed less grandly it would have played differently-probably better-since we would not have been waiting for something epic to happen. This isn't to diminish the final shoot out which has a very high level of "Hong Kong Cool" its just that the 90 minutes that proceed it are undeserving of the pay off.Worth a look on cable or as a borrow, but not something I'd search out (or watch again) (Just a question-how many Chinese films over the last decade or so all are called Blood Brothers in English?)

shanghaiproject Three childhood friends from the sticks climb the greasy pole of the '30s Shanghai underworld in "Blood Brothers," an enjoyable but lightly scripted crimer that plays like a sketch for a broader, more epic yarn. Shot through with references to John Woo (who produced) and Sergio Leone -- but rarely achieving the deep, tragic resonance of either -- it's still an impressive debut by Western-trained helmer Alexi Tan, a onetime stills-photographer who marshals his pan-Chinese star cast with visual aplomb. Pic tanked on Hong Kong release in August but did better in China; for Western markets, warm ancillary looms. Story is largely told as a flashback, as Feng (Daniel Wu) surveys a scene of carnage in snowy Shanghai -- a classic movie image referring to winter-set films of the time -- and asks in v.o.: "Why did we come to this place?" The simple answer is: fame and fortune. But as the pic flips back a while, to show the trio in their home village of Zhujiajiao, close to Shanghai, it's clear they're very different characters. Feng is the principled romantic, who falls for pretty Su Zhen (Lulu Li, aka Li Xiaolu from "Xiu Xiu"); Kang (Mainland hunk Liu Ye) is the ambitious muscle, who protects family and friends; and Kang's kid brother, Hu (Taiwan's Tony Yang, from "Formula 17"), is the nervous type in his bro's shadow. Early scenes showing them as young men in rural China have a genuine charm, even though the on screen chemistry between the three thesps is never as natural as it should be. Still, the pic never tarries, and soon, on Kang's suggestion, they're in Shanghai, pulling rickshaws or waiting tables. Hu, who works in the ritzy Paradise Night Club, gets them in one evening, just in time to see star chantoosie Lulu (Taiwan's Shu Qi) perform. Lulu is also the private property of the club's owner, Boss Hong (mainland thesp Sun Honglei, in a standout perf of casual villainy). Through a series of coincidences that involve Feng rescuing Hong's wounded chief henchman, Mark (Taiwan's Chang Chen), the trio start working for Hong. Kang soon relishes the power and violence, while Feng is more circumspect; the latter is also used as a doormat by Lulu, who's conducting a secret affair with Mark. At the hour point, the pic turns considerably darker when all these tangled emotions start to combust and Kang makes a bid for power. With the help of a classy tech team, including Hong Kong p.d. Alfred Lau ("2046") and costume designer Tim Yip ("A Better Tomorrow," "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"), helmer Tan brings off one after another action or atmosphere set-piece, with Michel Taburiaux's succulent widescreen lensing adding further texture. It's still backlot '30s Shanghai rather than real-looking '30s Shanghai, but it has more flavor and color than several recent big productions. What the movie lacks is really large set-pieces that give the characters a heroic stature and the whole story a long-limbed feel. It also lacks dialog that's more than just functional. As the ruthless big boss, Sun dominates in a way that only fellow mainlander Liu, as his equally ruthless protégé, comes close to approaching. Chang is OK as the two-timing henchman, but Wu and Yang barely convince in their roles. Among the women, Shu Qi has the star wattage to bring off her chanteuse role, but looks too modern; Li is fine as Feng's hometown love. In-jokes dot the movie, from Woo's own Lion Rock Prods. stenciled on a crate of guns, to the name of Tan's own Shanghainese grandmother, Tsiao Hong Ying, used for a singer. Period songs and nightclub routines are glitzy and un-camp, but a little too neat and modern-looking. Original title roughly means "Gate to Paradise," referring to the central nightclub.

DICK STEEL Inspired by John Woo's Bullet in the Head, Blood Brothers ventures into the tried and tested boys in the hood gangland story about honour and comradeship, only to find out that there's a little more to girls, gangs and guns. The movie looks great with beautiful sets, costumes, props, but there was a general sense of being emotionally empty beneath the shiny looking veneer.I always thought the cinematic 1930s Shanghai resembled the Capone era of Chicago, with gangland chiefs ruling the streets, and beautiful molls being the damsels in distress, carving a living out of singing in the dance halls, waiting for their anti-hero in that smart suit and fedora hair, totting a tommy and mowing down opponents without batting an eyelid. Blood Brothers transports us back to the era of the Shanghai Bund, with brothers Gang (Liu Ye), Hu (Tony Yang) and best friend Feng (Daniel Wu) looking toward the big city for an opportunity to carve a name for themselves. Leaving their village to pursue their dream, little do they know that their friendship will be put under severe tests when greed, power and ambition, or the lack thereof, come into play, and challenge the very notion of blood being thicker than water.However, despite big names in the production, what I found to be primarily lacking, is that you don't feel for the brotherhood and camaraderie between Gang, Hu and Feng, which I thought was extremely crucial if we were to care about what will happen to the trio - a reluctant soul yearning for home, a brawn over brains type muscleman whose ambition knows no bounds, and one who turned to the bottle because he can't live up to expectations. Time is indeed set aside in the beginning as a prompter, but it's a case of too little too late, with the narrative being caught up with bringing the audience to the glitz and glamour of the Paradise nightclub. Here, the blood brothers three get involved with yet another power playing trio - Boss Hong (Sun Honglei), his number one enforcer and brother Mark (Chang Chen), and the moll of the movie, the sultry cabaret singer Lulu (Shu Qi), and as the story unfolds and entangle all our casts together into a web of complex relationships, it is when the plot starts to thicken and get slightly interesting, only again to be exposed for its one- dimensional treatment.Which is a pity, given the potential of how things could have been played out. Even the ironic audacity of having the devilish characters storm into Paradise and unleash hell with guns ablazing, in attempts to reach a crescendo, ended up being a tad too bland. Perhaps the same-old treatment given to familiar themes and scenarios bore little fruit, despite a change in setting and a power cast. You just know what will happen, and they happen like clockwork. And it seemed that Blood Brothers was perpetually plagued by the clumsy romantic angles that don't serve much purpose or to contribute any depth to the characters involved.Despite the weak material, the cast did prove to be charismatic enough to hold your attention throughout, which is a good thing. Shu Qi lends her voice and sings in the movie, Chang Chen broods with a degree of suaveness, Daniel was found to be struggling with Mandarin, Sun Honglei was being really menacing, Tony Yang as the naive follower, and Liu Ye's steely gaze and demeanour will make you think twice should you want to cross his character. There were plenty of close up shots of their facial expressions in Blood Brothers, and this pretty left much of the bea utiful sets and costumes being left unseen.What I found wanting though, was the editing and cinematography. It was quite jarring to see the 180 degree rule broken so obviously, and bringing so much attention to itself. For the first time in many years, I was actually slightly disoriented when watching a scene, when it particularly liked to cross the line and back again, and move back and forth when characters are conversing, or that sudden swing of action brings us to the other side of it all. For once, I would have begged for the camera to stay where it should be, and stay still for that matter.I would love to have loved Blood Brothers for its high production values. However, the way the story is developed, and while trying hard to evoke equal emotions as the material it got inspired by, just left a bad aftertaste that it was trying just too damn hard to please.