Reptileenbu Did you people see the same film I saw?

Glucedee It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

WillSushyMedia This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Ginger Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

J R Takeshi Taktino has been a great crime director since the eighties, his sort of step into western cinema "Brother" is a heavy hitting gangster film about loyalty, blood bonds and sometimes confusing story telling. The editing of the film is a bit confusing as it will have you seeing one thing before dropping you into a completely unrelated situation where you don't have a clue how the characters have gotten into the situation or why but that aside the cinematography is stunning, not through scenery or what's happening on screen but just through where the camera has been placed. The story when you break it down is more or less the same basis as a lot of Katino's films, the old ways vs the new but this so far has seemed to work. You might get a bit tired of seeing the same facial expression on Katino's face but again in this film it seems's to work.

oneguyrambling The director of this film is Takeshi Kitano, the star is Beat Takeshi... or vice-versa. But they are both the same guy, he acts under one name and directs under the other for some reason. I could care less what he calls himself, Brother rocks.The plot concerns a loyal Yakuza henchman named Aniki who is forced to leave Japan when his Boss is killed and he refuses to kowtow and join a rival gang. He is sent to America where he looks up his younger brother who has gone off the rails a little bit. Not joined-the-Yakuza path, but dabbling in minor drug dealing and stuff.Aniki (means Big Brother in Japanese) promptly takes over the rabble and forms his own gang of 5. Not content with running his own small time show he promptly sets about an expansion program that would leave his shareholders giddy (if they existed). Only like the dot-com boom and bust Aniki operates in a field with many competitors and precious few behavioral boundaries, so this was never going to end happily.What sets Brother apart from the usual drug wars' films is that it isn't made like one. There are long dialogue-free scenes that are allowed to roll out and develop at their own pace, only to be punctuated by sudden acts of great violence, and not the "guy leaps into air after explosion" violence, I mean "guy gets chopsticks forcefully pushed into skull" stuff, or "man picks up broken bottle and sticks it in other man's eye".Aniki himself speaks no English upon arriving in the US, so his instructions are passed down through his little brother and eventually his 2IC Kato that followed him across from Japan and shows unwavering loyalty at all times. Aniki grabs himself a girlfriend, although it is never shown if she is actually his platonic missus or a trinket (or even a pet) that he likes around, and his best friend in the gang is Denny (Omar Epps), a young thug and the unfortunate recipient of the broken bottle mentioned above. The two bond over gambling on anything and everything, despite not speaking each other's language, and it seems that Aniki wants to take Denny under his wing from almost Day 1.As the "business" expands it takes over new turf and incites anger from new enemies and rivals. Everything is run with the Yakuza code of honour and disloyalty and betrayal are both met with savage repercussions. Unfortunately if there is one thing that the Star Wars prequels showed us (aside from not knowing when to stop) it is that "there is always a bigger fish". Ultimately the gang grows too big and a mad scramble is made to flee as the tone changes.It is hard to discuss Brother without making it sound like a whiz-bang action film, it isn't that though. It has action elements sure, but maybe 4 brief scenes in the movie, a far cry from your Lethal Weapons and co... Brother is more a deliberately paced drama that tells a familiar story, but in a different way and with an unfamiliar backdrop.For some reason I found it compelling at all times, even in the slow(er) spots when it seemed to pause for no reason, and I wanted it to continue on and on. I've seen Brother maybe 5 times now, and each time I pick up the DVD cover I know how great this film is, but I press play and let the following 2 hours prove it to me again.As bat-sh*t crazy as some aspects of Japanese culture seem to Westerners these days, there is a lot to admire about the way they conduct their business at times, even in a violent crime film (and I am no Scarface / New Jack City slack-jawed admirer of all things criminal).Final Rating - 8.5 / 10. A pretty straightforward plot: Guy starts business. Business grows. Business hits trouble. But told in a very effective way.

t-d-t-m82 First the American acting was awful. People like Elijah Wood; Samuel L Jackson and Bruce Willis would have made this movie. Even Quentin Tarrintino's acting is better than the American acting in this film.The direction is good but not as good as his Japanese films such as Hana BI or Zatoichi. The cinematography is very straight to video meets Fukasaku style close ups. I love that kind of cinematography as it creates a sense of putting you into shot. You see the film from the perspective of a stand in with plenty of great close ups on key characters. It makes it more violent even if the hits are off camera. I love the uniqueness of the off camera imagination shot as it makes it more interesting. Then again I am partial to on screen violence.The house party at the end is atrocious so is a large majority of the American acting sequences. Kitano is flawless in the film. He depicts a similar method acting to Sonatine. I think this film has massive problems with b level American acting and poor understanding of the dialogue.Kitano has made a brave film here which I respect but it is not a master piece such as his other works. I love Kitano but this film's errors are not down to him. The American acting here is on a par with Too Fast To Furious. Yeah it's pretty bad and these American actors don't do the dead pan and emotions are very overacted. Underplay it for a masterful acting experience.The Japanese acting is on par with Yakuza Graveyard, Audition, The Ring and other Japanese classic low budget films. Kitano does a good job of hiring the lead character from Graveyard Of Honour as he makes an awesome crime boss.Other Japanese characters take leafs out of yakuza movies and act solidly. The gun shoot outs are dramatic and intense which is so frequent in Kitano's work. Kitano's character shows a lot of humour as expected along with the tough guy character to the style of Joe Pesci in Goodfellas.This film is worth seeing. Especially for the role of the Yakuza Graveyard lead actor as an exceptional crime boss. Kitano is flawless but the film could oh so close be a master piece. It's one of the best low budget films of this period however more research by the actor selectors means it just misses out. A strong effort from a master film maker but not up to scratch with his classics.Kitano takes on Fukasaku and American cinema and holds out on his own.Track it down on DVD. The UK release contains and awesome documentary about Kitano. It's worth the DVD import price alone.

johnny-08 Another interesting movie from well known Japanese director Takeshi Kitano.Kitano established himself as an excellent director and in this one he acts good too.His face has no emotions in portraying this character.He had help from some American actors,especially Omar Epps.Probably you wonder what connection could possibly have Kitano and Epps but there are few scenes in witch they work perfectly.Movie has lots of blood,lots of dead people but it also shows us the way of living.The underground scene of Japan and America.Gangs,drugs,weapons,yakuza,Japanese and Americans.The only man who can connect this is Kitano and his excellent writing.This is definitely not the best Kitano movie but it's worth watching.Because of very good script.Because of very good acting.And finally because of Takeshi Kitano's talent.