The Brothers Sun
Cast: Justin Chien, Sam Song Li, Michelle Yeoh, Highdee Kuan, Alice Hewkin, Madison Hu, Jon Xue Zhang, Jenny Yang, Johnny Kou, Joon Lee
Episodes: 8
Rating: ★★★★
Where to watch: Netflix
What do Sleepy Chan, Drowsy Lee, Big Sun, Blood Boots, and Chairleg Charlie have in common? They are all members of Asian triads in The Brothers Sun, and they earn their nicknames either through their distinct personalities, their hierarchy in their crime family, or their lethal skills in the elimination of their enemies.
Take Chairleg, for example. At age 14 while growing up in gangland Taipei, Chairleg, whose real name is Charles Sun (Chien), thwarts an assassination attempt on his father (Kou) by beating the guy to a pulp with a chair leg. The rest, as they say, is history for Charles “I kill a lot of people” Sun.
His infamy is such that his reputation precedes him when he goes to Los Angeles in search of his mom, Eileen “Mama” Sun (Yeoh), and brother Bruce (Li). His father has been shot and before the old guy goes into a coma, he tells Charles to “bau hu jia ren” or protect the family. You will hear of this expression, and more, often as filmmakers Byron Wu and Brad Falchuk attempt to educate viewers on the mores and modus operandi of the Chinese underworld. Like, “guanxi”, for example, refers to a code of honor and conduct that triad members swear by.
Without these rules or traditions, chaos will ensue. Which is what happens when unknown assassins are working on the fringes to whack the triad members one by one. However, those they have killed are just the tip of the iceberg. They want to go after the triad heads, known as “ghosts” because no one really knows their identities. In order to get this list of names, they have to find “The Rolodex”, a.k.a. Mama Sun.
And the way to get to Mama Sun is through the younger Sun, Bruce. Bruce is studying to be a doctor, but he really loves improv and, unbeknownst to his mom, is using his school fees money to pay for improv classes. Of course, when Mama Sun finds out, there will be hell to pay. No worries, she won’t be using her handy-dandy tool, the bone saw; she will just “kill” Bruce with one of her passive aggressive remarks, expressions, or side-eyes.
Once again, the ever sublime Michelle Yeoh shows us how effortlessly she can transition from wielding a bone saw and getting ready to tear her opponents to pieces on the kitchen floor, to being the helicopter mom and telling beloved son Bruce to, “Go to bed! You have a test tomorrow”.
Kudos also goes to Li as Bruce, a character with a steep learning curve who has to rise from ineptness on one end of the spectrum to heroics on the other. Chien doesn’t disappoint in bringing a much needed vulnerability to his tough-guy role, while veteran Taiwanese actor Kou lends star status and street cred to his role as gangster boss Big Sun. Special mention goes to Lee, who provides a much needed comic relief as TK, who wants to be the last-man-standing “Elton John of all gangsters”.
With overall good performances from the rest of the ensemble cast, kick-ass action, shootouts, suspense, twists, a snazzy soundtrack, and spot-on family and cultural dynamics (yes, eating dried ramen noodles broken up and mixed with the seasoning packet is a favorite Asian snack), The Brothers Sun (pronounced Suen, by the way) is truly a gem that shines.
Audiences who grow up watching triad TV shows and movies from 1980s Hong Kong will appreciate the nostalgia that The Brothers Sun ignites, especially with scenes like a gangster “roundtable” to discuss the appointment of a triad leader or Dragon Head while sipping Chinese tea, and Mama Sun gathering insider information from aunties at a mahjong table. Common themes like honor, family, and betrayal here are also reminiscent of Hong Kong offerings like Triads: The Inside Story and the John Woo classics, A Better Tomorrow I and II, despite the show’s more slow burn style and contemporary American setting.
American TV shows with an Asian angle have come a long way since the casting of Caucasian actor David Carradine in the 1972 TV series, Kung Fu, about a Shaolin monk and martial arts exponent in the American Old West. And The Brothers Sun, just like the iconic Ginger and Scallion Lobster dish that Eileen Sun orders from a Chinese restaurant, is one of the better and more authentic fare to have come along since then.
(Photos courtesy of Netflix)