ReviewBreakout Brothers movie review: Hong Kong prison break story blends comedy with drama and is surprisingly engaging
- This film about a man who plans a prison break to help his sick mother is enjoyable if not memorable
- Although the cast isn’t A-list, the characters are affable and the film is full of humour
3.5/5 stars
Prison dramas have remained an infrequent yet regular event in Hong Kong cinemas – think 2015’s Imprisoned: Survival Guide for Rich and Prodigal, 2017’s With Prisoners and 2019’s P Storm – in spite of the dwindling number of local productions in the past decade. Among these, the new release Breakout Brothers, even with its C-list cast and general lack of gimmicks, arguably proves the most entertaining one of this recent batch.
A prison-break story that touches on such heart-warming notions as the importance of family and the selfless nature of friendship, this engaging movie by Mak Ho-pong (co-director of the forgettable 2018 horror The Lingering) revolves around petty criminal Chan Ho-ching (Louis Cheung Kai-chung), who has learned to thoroughly enjoy life behind bars despite having a very nice girlfriend (Jeana Ho Pui-yu) outside.
Chan’s mentality takes a sharp turn when his beloved mother suddenly falls ill and requires an urgent kidney transplant from him to stay alive. When his temporary parole is rejected by the self-serving warden Tang (Kenny Wong Tak-bun), the desperate son decides to stage his own prison break with the indignant new inmate Mak Kin-tin (Adam Pak Tin-nam), who insists he has been framed for a crime he didn’t commit.
The story by Edmond Wong Chi-mun and Hayley Fu then introduces us to a pair of duelling mobsters: the sadistic Scar (Justin Cheung Kin-seng), a lifer who swiftly begins to torture Mak; and the flamboyant Big Roller (Patrick Tam Yiu-man), who soon settles a past grievance with Mak and decides to join the escape plan – in an unlikely attempt to be present for his long-estranged daughter’s wedding day.