His world is thrown through a loop, however, with the arrival of his older brother, Charles (Justin Chien), who has been living with their father (Kou Shih-hsun) in Taipei for the past 15 years.
How Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh put young co-stars in The Brothers Sun at ease
How Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh put young co-stars in The Brothers Sun at ease
Little does Bruce know that their father is Big Sun, head of the powerful Jade Dragons triad, arguably Taipei’s most powerful criminal society, with Charles his ruthless right-hand enforcer, known as “Chair Leg”.
Following an assassination attempt that leaves Big Sun in a coma, assumed to have been orchestrated by rival gangster Sleepy Chan, Charles arrives in Los Angeles to ensure the rest of the family’s safety. Bruce is soon swept up in a maelstrom of underworld violence, a world for which he is wholly unprepared, but which his mother seems totally unfazed by.
The mayhem soon attracts the attention of assistant district attorney Alexis Kong (Highdee Kuan), Charles’ old childhood friend from Taiwan. It is only a matter of time before Bruce will have to prove how far he is willing to go to protect his family.
As Eileen Sun, Yeoh’s character is not so far removed from her award-winning turn in the Daniels’ 2022 multiversal masterpiece. She presents herself as a hard-working and humble Asian mother, who has made innumerable sacrifices to give her baby Bruce the best possible life.
She deftly navigates the local Chinese community, not least her mahjong group of ageing women, who soon reveal themselves to be a treasure trove of insider information about every facet of the local diaspora.
Eileen is obviously aware of her husband’s criminal activities, but initially seems to have minimal involvement. However, by Yeoh’s casting alone, audiences will be primed to discover that Eileen is more than capable of handling herself in sticky situations.
The action proves a sustained highlight of The Brothers Sun. The martial arts sequences – of which there are many throughout the series – are fast, frenetic and often genuinely funny.
Chien, more than anyone else on screen, finds himself at the centre of these breathlessly staged skirmishes and is something of a revelation in the action field. Regularly outnumbered, his relentless athleticism, inventiveness and enthusiasm is a genuine highlight. But Chien displays dramatic chops too.
Playing the stoic, emotionally closed-off killer – albeit, in this case, one with a secret penchant for baking – can often be something of a thankless task for actors, but Charles’ evolution from unquestioning obedience to seizing control of his own destiny provides the show’s central emotional arc, one in which Chien acquits himself admirably.
Li also succeeds in ensuring Bruce is something more than a snivelling coward. He is adamant that he does not want to pursue the path dictated by his father and follow Charles into a life of crime, and attains new-found agency as the story unfolds.
At the centre of The Brothers Sun is the struggle to balance the triad life and simple family life, how honour can be recognised in criminal activities, and how family obligations can become powerful and constricting. But for all that the characters wrestle with these adversarial pressures, it is something the show never quite manages to reconcile.
While keenly observed, the stylised violence and understated domesticity sit awkwardly side by side.
The writers tie themselves in knots trying to portray the triads as something more than simply a criminal enterprise, citing history and tradition alongside duty and honour. Obviously one of the central concepts of the show is following characters as their perspective on these arguments shift and evolve, but the results are somewhat mixed.
Similarly, the brothers’ private passions of cooking and comedy never quite get the pay-offs they deserve.
Nevertheless, there is plenty to enjoy in a show bursting with colourful, larger-than-life characters and an endless stream of cultural observations and knowing gags, some of which may only speak to residents of the San Gabriel suburbs.
For everyone else, The Brothers Sun presents a feast of fighting, food, and most importantly, family.
The Brothers Sun is streaming on Netflix.