Big Brother (2018) Review: Donnie Yen Goes Back to School

Is Big Brother worth watching?

Yes, with reservations. Big Brother is a big-hearted inspirational-teacher drama that happens to star one of the world’s great martial arts performers, and the combination is more charming than it has any right to be. Donnie Yen is relaxed and likeable in a rare role built more on warmth than fists, and the film’s affection for struggling kids is sincere. The reservations are its after-school-special earnestness, a string of sentimental subplots, and action scenes so sparing that fans expecting a fight film may feel short-changed.

What is Big Brother about?

Big Brother stars Donnie Yen as Henry Chen, a former soldier who takes a job teaching at a struggling secondary school in Hong Kong. He is assigned a class of students the system has largely given up on, teenagers dealing with poverty, family trouble and low expectations from everyone around them.

Henry’s methods are unconventional. He visits their homes, takes their problems personally and refuses to accept that any of them are lost causes, which puts him at odds with colleagues and administrators. At the same time, the school faces pressure from a greedy businessman with his own plans and a gang of fighters to back them up, along with the bureaucracy that decides the school’s fate. Joe Chen and a young ensemble of students round out the cast.

Kam Ka-wai directs a Chinese-language production that runs 111 minutes.

An action star in a gentler role

The film’s chief pleasure is watching Donnie Yen play against type. Henry is patient, playful and a little goofy, with a boyish enthusiasm for his students that makes the inspirational-teacher clichés easier to swallow. Yen carries the lighter scenes with more ease than his more solemn roles might suggest, and his chemistry with the young cast feels genuine.

When the fists do come out, they are worth waiting for. The fight scenes are short and crisp, staged with the speed and clarity that Yen fans expect, and they are used as punctuation rather than the main event. The film treats his physical skills as a character trait: a man who knows how to fight but would much rather teach.

A classroom full of heartstrings

The film’s structure is episodic, moving from one student’s crisis to the next, and each strand is designed to tug at the audience. Some of these stories land with real feeling, particularly those about children who are carrying adult responsibilities at home, and the young performers bring energy to parts that could easily have been one-note.

The film also has a clear social conscience. It is interested in how schools sort children by grades and money, and in what happens to those who fall through the gaps. That message is delivered with conviction, and it gives the story more weight than a standard action vehicle.

Where earnestness becomes a burden

The trouble is that the film has little interest in subtlety. Every problem is underlined, every lesson is spelled out, and the tone swings between slapstick comedy, weepy family drama and sudden violence without much grace. The villainous businessman is a cartoon, and the school’s battle with the authorities leans more on sentiment than logic. Viewers allergic to inspirational speeches and swelling music will find it heavy going.

Who should watch Big Brother?

It is best for Donnie Yen fans curious to see him in a lighter register, for families with teenagers, and for viewers who enjoy feel-good school dramas and do not mind obvious sentiment. At under two hours, it is an easy watch. The violence is brief and stylised, with some scenes of domestic hardship, so it is suitable for most teenagers.

For more Donnie Yen, or more heart:

• Ip Man, the film that defined Donnie Yen’s modern stardom, with a far greater focus on martial arts.
• Dying to Survive, another Chinese crowd-pleaser from the same year that mixes comedy, tears and social conscience more deftly.

The verdict

Big Brother is a sincere, warm-hearted film that gives Donnie Yen a chance to show his gentler side, with just enough action to keep his fans happy. Its sentimentality and broad villains keep it from being more than a well-meaning crowd-pleaser, but its heart is firmly in the right place.

Rating: 3.5/5