SYNOPSIS:
After their adoptive mother is gunned down during a grocery
holdup, the estranged brothers unite to seek revenge and take
matters
into their own hands. Defying police orders, the four begin
turning old Detroit neighbourhood upside down searching for
the mastermind behind the brutal killing. Along the way, they
are bound by ties thicker than blood.
MOVIE
REVIEW :
Once
the familiar Paramount logo starts to fade out in a blanket
of snow, all the suspense and action elements start to roll
in this John Singleton (“Boyz N the Hood” “Shaft”
and “2 Fast 2 Furious”) directed action drama.
To begin with, Evelyn Mercer is a benevolent social worker
who also acts as a surrogate mother to four young males. Rejected
from one foster home to another, these rebellious young kids
grow up to be social outcasts of sorts but deep down, their
love for their surrogate mother remains. When their mother
is shot in cold-blood during a holdup in a convenience store,
these four males decide to get together to hunt down the killers.
The plotting
is simplistic enough, there isn’t much time for characters
elaboration in fact. But there’s one crucial scene in
which a cop (played by Terence Howard from “Crash”)
is breaking down the four brothers’ characteristics
to his rookie partner which basically summarises everything
you need to know about them.
Mark
Wahlberg is Bobby, the leader of the pack and the one who
dismisses any notion of thoughts. And the rest of the brothers,
played by Tyrese Gibson, Andre Benjamin and Garrett Hedlund
are equally outstanding in their roles. Perhaps there’s
a strong indication of how different the characters and roles
are in the script. With perfect casting and John Singleton’s
direction, everything just falls in place nicely and fittingly.
With each
step the brothers took, there are more challenges ahead. As
they move closer to the killer, one can sense how close these
brothers are and these go to show the perfect chemistry the
cast possessed.
The
car chase scene set in a heavy blizzard will not disappoint
die-hard action fans. In addition, there’s a shootout
at the Mercer household that will keep your adrenalin pumping.
Despite some clichés towards the end, “Four Brothers”
fares well as a decent crime thriller. No doubt, good casting
contributes a lot to it too.
SPECIAL
FEATURES :
Commentary
by Director John Singleton - Listen to Singleton's
commentary if you wish to know more behind-the-scenes stuff
of "Four Brothers". Nothing extraordinary or particularly
informative though.
Look of "Four Brothers" (10.05mins) - Let
the production designer and cinematographer brings you more
details on creating the look of "Four Brothers".
It's interesting to note that part of the facade from the
Mercer House is recreated on soundstage and well, hard to
notice any differences onscreen. The magic of film-making
strikes again.
Crafting "Four Brothers" (10.54mins) - Listen
to how the screenwriters came up with touches and approaches
to the script. Amazingly, the writers helmed from UK while
the story is set in Detroit.
Behind the Brotherhood (09.28mins)
- Nothing really inspiring but you get to see Director John
Singleton playing hockey with the cast and he gets to push
Tyrese around. Male bonding that is.
Mercer House Shootout (04.15mins) - The most interesting
but the shortest feature of the lot. A behind-the-scenes of
how the shootout sequence is conceived and background work
carried out by the technicians.
Deleted Scenes - Altogether there are 5 deleted scenes,
mostly ranging in seconds to a minute, longest being the "The
Brothers Eulogy" running at 2 minutes. Fortunately, none
of them are crucial to the plot and you can get a good laugh
at the "Bobby teases Jack" sequence however.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Presented
in Dolby Digital 5.1., this special edition of "Four
Brothers" is a hoot in the gunfight, shootout sequences.
It's akin to putting yourself in the middle of the fights
with the surround and rear speakers blasting off.
As
the movie is shot in wintery conditions, there's a great reliance
on the colour white. Not really a distraction, in fact it
looks marvellous especially the end scene.
MOVIE
RATING:
 
DVD
RATING :
Review
by Linus Tee
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