City of Brotherly Love
Terry Ng takes a page from the 1980s HK Movie handbook for a retro triad thriller. Who knew we missed ’em?
The Brotherhood of Rebel
Director: Terry Ng • Writer: Ronald Chan
Starring: Nick Cheung, Bosco Wong, Carlos Chan, Niki Chow, Kenny Wong, Michelle Wai
Hong Kong • 1hr 37mins
Opens Hong Kong October 5 • III
Grade: B
Before you start wracking your brain and questioning your sanity, if you’re reading the Chinese title of The Brotherhood of Rebel | 紮職 2, then no. There was no Triad 1. Well there was, kind of. It had the name, but a different cast and different characters and was entirely unrelated to this film. Think of this like you do those 441 films recently called “Once Upon a Time in Hong Kong” (seriously, where are all these coming from?), or kind of like Greatest Bad Movie of All Time, Troll 2. There was no Troll. Just go with it.
Terry Ng Ka-wai’s Brotherhood is a surprisingly deft, engaging, 1980s heyday throwback diversion that filmmakers here have been trying to recapture for the last decade or so, even pre-NSL, and not quite getting right. This one though, written by Ronald Chan Kin-hung (who penned… jezuz! Once Upon a Time in Hong Kong, and Enter the Fat Dragon), has a stripped back, basic-ass structure that you can trace as far back as Bullet in the Head and the Young and Dangerous series, with just enough of a modern, FIREB-forward spin that it feels fresh. Or as fresh as a Triad thriller ever really can be. It’s efficient, it honours its forebears, it’s got strong production values, it’s entertaining, and it has gloriously perplexing syntax in the English title. Solid. This is a solid Saturday afternoon.
You know this…
This is classic two, ideally three, pals vow brotherhood above all else, and come into moral and personal conflict when some kind of wedge pits them against each other. Against each other if it’s two; ditto with an even more conflicted peacekeeper if it’s a trio. The Brotherhood of Rebel is a trio. The action starts with brothers Chai (Bosco Wong Chung-chak, G Storm), Kam (Carlos Chan Ka-lok, Detective vs Sleuths) and Mao (Louis Cheung Kai-chung, The Narrow Road) taking out a rival gang boss (German Cheung Man-kit) in a pool hall (a messy and grim neon-bathed sequence). It does indeed get Brother Yau’s (Kenny Wong Tak-ban, One More Chance) attention, but more than that it gets ours. As soon as Kam and Chai pull out the choppers you know you’re in for some old school, grotty Hong Kong action.
The trio is initiated into the gang, and is sitting pretty with the popular Yau and his vengeful wife Nam (Niki Chow Lai-kei) as he gets more and more involved in so-called legitimate businesses like real estate (titter titter). One night everyone’s at a charity banquet except for Mao, who’s off making a bit of extra scratch that demands he try and run Yau over with a car. Uh-oh. Chai encourages Mao to take off, immediately, and despite Kam’s apprehension he agrees. Of course, nearly 20 years later Mao is back in town, Chai has scaled the corporate ladder, and Kam has developed a bit of bloodlust. Oh, and Mao has a pregnant wife, Yuet (Michelle Wai Sze-na, 77 Heartwarmings). Will they meet again? Will someone demand a pound of flesh? Will a pregnant woman be imperilled? Will the brotherhood survive? Will there be much gushing blood?
Aside from taking a swipe at the real estate sector by making the truly heinous thugs the shady bizniz dudes Yin (Ben Yuen Foo-wa) and Wong (classic shady dude Kent Cheng Jak-si) – low-hanging fruit in Hong Kong – Ng and Chan don’t get too into the allegorical weeds. Yin and Wong want a piece of pricy land for a fancy development and are happy to hire Kam to threaten, harangue and strong-arm the remaining residents of the land’s existing building until they move out. Ha. Get in line. Beyond that, this is a straight-ahead, no muss, no fuss action thriller with a revenge chaser, that comes close to the gonzo heights of good ol’ days. Of the core trio, Chan (Carlos) seems to have the most fun with his combination dead-eyed and feral tough guy; the unhinged one that you can never be sure is going to do what he says he is. Sudden A-list leading man Cheung is suddenly A-list because he makes Mao, an archetype, into a wounded husband and soon-to-be-father with a soul. He looks like his past is literally weighing him down. Sadly, Wong can only be fine as the man in the middle. That guy’s never any fun until he gets stabbed. Poor sod. The Brotherhood of Rebel (I guess it’s a proper noun?) knows what it is, it knows we know what it is, and it happily stays in its lane. It’s like a G.But movie, but in Cantonese. That’s a good thing. And yes, for record there’s a 紮職 3 on the way. Maybe a sisterhood? — DEK