Michelle Yeoh in Netflix Motion Dramedy – The Hollywood Reporter

Within the opening moments of Netflix’s The Brothers Solar, a trio of hitmen descend on the house of Charles Solar (Justin Chien), the scion of a infamous triad. In a collection of lengthy, fluid takes, Charles defends himself with the grace of a skilled warrior and the reassurance of a person who’s used to hazard, sending our bodies flying by the air and blood spilling throughout his ground.

However a grim and gritty battle this isn’t. All the battle performs out towards an episode of The Nice British Bake Off that Charles had been watching earlier than he was so rudely interrupted. “I’m so wounded,” moans a contestant as Charles smashes one man’s face in with a rolling pin. “Oh no, I believe your cake’s simply fallen,” the host sighs as Charles sends one other crashing down from the second ground.

The scene units the tone for eight hourlong episodes that serve up loads of violent motion and dramatic twists — however that, above all, goal to ship on a great time. And though the tip consequence looks like one thing lower than the sum of its elements, it nonetheless yields sufficient enjoyable to make Byron Wu and Brad Falchuk‘s action-comedy-drama as bingeable as a tray of freshly baked cookies.

In early episodes, The Brothers Solar performs like an upbeat, if considerably uneven, buddy comedy. Following the assault, Charles leaves Taiwan in the hunt for the mom (Michelle Yeoh) he hasn’t seen in years. Upon his arrival in Los Angeles, Charles is baffled to find that his youthful brother, Bruce (Sam Music Li), has grown right into a mushy, clueless American who is aware of nothing of the household’s legal legacy and goals of nothing extra formidable than a profession in improv comedy; for his half, Bruce is understandably shocked by the reality that’s been stored from him for therefore lengthy. However because the pair zip round city attempting to ID a decapitated head or ship an unique lizard, their stiffness progressively melts into the squabbling sibling dynamic they should have shared as youngsters, after which into real affection and respect.

Chien stands out for his skill to shift between the ruthless killer Charles has been skilled to be and the candy homebody he actually is deep down, with only a slight alteration in posture or a refined drop of his forehead. Whereas he typically performs the straight man to Bruce’s shaggier, goofier vibe, his deadpan demeanor turns into hilarious in itself when he applies the identical dedication he brings to his gangland dealings to his quest for the right churro recipe. In the meantime, All the things In all places All at As soon as and American Born Chinese language star Yeoh may in all probability play “Asian auntie with an insane secret” in her sleep by now — however that makes it no much less enjoyable to observe her passive-aggressively berate her grownup sons, or coolly flip the tables on a would-be kidnapper.

The household’s chemistry grounds The Brothers Solar in a surprisingly relatable emotional actuality. For all of the underworld politicking and intricately choreographed fistfights, the conflicts confronted by the Suns are ones that shall be acquainted to simply about anybody: the place to attract the road between one’s personal goals and a mum or dad’s expectations, what one owes to their household and is owed by their household in return. Whereas the collection avoids dwelling on the characters’ psychological harm (lest it reduce too far into our glee at watching them scheme and slice their manner by enemy factions), it affords sufficient angst to maintain us feeling for the Suns even of their ethical murkiness.

Atop that strong thematic basis, The Brothers Solar builds a zany funhouse of legal exercise. Whereas the collection by no means develops a completely distinctive type of its personal, it borrows from the perfect: Edgar Wright, John Wick and Jackie Chan are among the many apparent influences on its motion, pacing and humorousness. The collection reimagines the closely Asian American suburbs of San Gabriel Valley as an underworld hub the place one can’t a lot as throw a rock with out hitting a regionally beloved seafood restaurant that’s secretly a money-laundering entrance, the place assassins present as much as youngsters’ events in blow-up dinosaur costumes and henchmen spend their careers on the lookout for any alternative to inject Gymkata strikes right into a brawl. (Admittedly, it seems to be very cool when one lastly pulls it off.)

The wedding of contrasting tones has its flaws. Its later, extra intense chapters over-rely on closely telegraphed twists and hasty adjustments in motivation. As sharply outlined because the Suns are, the supporting characters are a blended bag. Some, like Jon Xue Zhang’s genial henchman Blood Boots, make a giant impression with restricted display screen time; others, like Charles’ law-enforcement love curiosity Alexis (Highdee Kuan) or Bruce’s feckless BFF TK (Joon Lee), come off respectively like skinny plot units or lackluster comedian reduction. And the jokes don’t all the time hit as crisply as they might. Bruce’s love of improv, as an illustration, is a operating gag that by no means goes deeper than the initially amusing notion that it’s in all probability the least gangster exercise conceivable. (Charles’ ardour for baking, in contrast, seems to have an entire poignant backstory connected to it.)

Even its wobblier decisions are straightforward to forgive, nonetheless, once they appear rooted in such an earnest need to shock and delight. It’s telling that, for all their variations, Charles and Bruce appear to share a ardour for creating simple pleasures: the sweetness of a freshly baked pastry, the enjoyment of freewheeling comedy. In that sense, the entertaining The Brothers Solar shouldn’t be so totally different from its personal leads.