The Brotherhood of Rebel 紮職2 (2023) Hong Kong 🇭🇰
Reviewed by Andrew Chan (Film Critics Circle of Australia 🇦🇺 )
Over a decade after the mindless entertainment gangster flick “Triad”, comes the unrelated sequel in the form of “Brotherhood of Rebel”. With an entirely different cast, crew and director, this film flairs far better in its execution as well as its character driven focus making this better than a typical genre gangster film. We all loved “Young and Dangerous” series and talented director Terry Ng (made the rewarding “Pretty Heart”) goes into full speed with plenty of exciting action and chase sequences through to some focused acting display between the gang leader and the three “brothers”.
The film follows the typical rise to the top plot line with the leader of the trio being Bosco Wong whose surprisingly stoic appearance works well to hold the film together. Carlos Chan plays the volatile one of the three who always goes into trouble and excelled in a demanding role. Meanwhile, the best acting of the trio goes to Louis Cheung whose character is faced with an accidental attack on triad boss played by the endearing Kenny Wong. Niki Chow long missed on-screen is a welcome addition as the triad boss’s wife and Michelle Wai is always good in a limited role as Cheug’s pregnant wife.
All in all, “Brotherhood of Rebel” will not set any sparks on the gangster genre, but the film manages to entertain without glorifying the triad genres and in the process producing a character driven piece that is not usually seen in these kind of movies. Director Ng is easily one to watch for the future.
I rated it 7.5/10