Bullet & Brain

Posted by Mack at 7:05pm.

Posted in Film & DVD Reviews , Drama, Action, Asia.

YesAsia - Triad boss Principal meets an untimely demise when his protégé Winston betrays him. Before his death, he left his Swiss bank account password to his granddaughter Rain, who now becomes Winston’s next target. Winston needs the money to cut a deal with another mob boss, and he’s willing to use any means to get it. Rookie cop Fred is assigned to protect Rain, but he’s more bumbling than brave and both are soon in deep waters with Winston’s gang on the hunt. Luckily, the Principal also left Rain a torn bill that if sent out would bring the aid of his old friends, legendary criminals Bullet (Francis Ng) and Brain (Anthony Wong). The sharp-minded, sharp-shooting duo hasn’t been seen in years, but they’re back with guns a-blazing to save Rain. The only problem: they vowed years ago to never kill or lie again.

When you’re handed a DVD to review and some of the faces that grace its cover belong to Francis Ng, Anthony Wong and Eric Tsang you would just assume that what you hold in your hand is another noteworthy addition to the Chinese action film canon. I mean, how could you go wrong when you have this kind of talent in front of your camera?

For everyone one film that rises to legendary status there are at least ten others the lie in a crumpled heap beneath its feet so it may rise above the others. I’ll give you three guesses as to which group this one belongs in and the first two don’t count. Bullet & Brain is convoluted, silly and unintentionally laughable. The fluff factor of this film rates as high as Goose down. Which is a shame because the three principal actors are sorely underused; I would go as far as to say miscast. And for being such feared men as they are Bullet and Brain do an awful lot of sitting around on their asses. They are called into action by a young woman in distress and they are more concerned about picking up the pieces of their broken lives, introducing character story arcs that do not necessarily need to exist. What we are left with is a dimwit cop [Olympic swimmer turned singer/actor Alex Fong] trying to save his bubble tea love interest [Mainland newcomer Tang Yan]. Watching these two fumble about and fall in love is like chewing glass.

Keung Kwok-Man, the cinematographer turned director proves that he can still lense a good film. Bullet & Brain is about as pretty as you can get, right down to the Sacred Saint of the Eternal Neon Church setting in the finale that would make Baz Luhrmann blush. You just cannot help but feel that he wasn’t given much to work with in the first place with Wong Jing’s ludicrous screenplay. If he is given a meatier script I see no reason why he cannot deliver a sumptuous meal to the metaphorical action film dining table.

It is just that Wong Jing’s script is so absurd you’re left wondering how he thought any of his screenplay was a great idea. Cast in point, Fred rescues Rain after two of Winston’s henchmen attempt to grab her. She asks him to stop so she can mail what we believe are the two bank note halves. A dark and luminous Hummer drives by. What do you do when you do not want famed assassins to receive the bank notes that will summon them into action? Why, you blow up the mailbox with a rocket launcher, that’s what you do. Holy crap! Really!?! Then you drive off because the cops might catch you raising a ruckus. Never mind you just drove past the granddaughter of a Triad boss with a Swiss bank account number in her head that your boss needs so he can become a gambling tycoon. Oh no. She’s with a cop! You have a freaking rocket launcher! You’re in a Hummer. They’re on a Motorcycle with a side car. You win!!!

A side note. I’ve always said that dance music sounds the same, but this I do know, each song is different in its own little way. But, can you imagine a club that plays the same damn song every time you go to it? It is as if the sound mixer assumed that blind people would be in the theatre and if they could recognize the music then they could follow along with the thin plot. Oh, we must be back in the club. Oh, we must be at Winston’s house. C’mon!!!

So much potential. So much for that.

Fluffy and forgettable.

DVD Details

Language: Cantonese, Mandarin
Subtitle: Simplified Chinese, English, Traditional Chinese
Duration: 100 Minutes
Region Code: All-region
Publisher: Tai Seng Video (US)
Screen Format: 16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround