‘The Brothers Sun’ Is an Epic Waste of Michelle Yeoh’s Time

Netflix’s new series The Brothers Sun asks viewers to suspend our disbelief a lot. Whether it’s a group of assassins dressed in those dinosaur costumes that were popular on Vine, a triad-leading killing machine with a penchant for The Great British Baking Show, or the absurd idea that anyone actually likes improvised comedy, we’re expected to just go along for the ride. But perhaps the most ridiculous thing The Brothers Sun wants us to believe is that this show is a worthwhile use of Michelle Yeoh’s talents.

After the attempted assassination of his father, Charles Sun (Justin Chien), now de facto head of the Jade Dragon Triad, transplants to Los Angeles to protect his mother (Yeoh) and younger brother Bruce (Sam Song Li). While Charles is a competent and cool leader, Bruce is a hapless, improv-loving nerd who suddenly finds himself thrust into the criminal underworld. What follows is an odd couple-style tonal mess, in which the sheltered Bruce comes to terms with the fact that his mother is married to the mob.

The dialogue sounds like the actors filmed their lines separately, and the characters all speak in the same manner—everyone prefixes words with “super” constantly—as they lurch from tired quips to whiplash-inducing self-seriousness in a way that feels inhuman. Everything is held together with a bedrock of fat jokes. But the most egregious sin this show commits is that, in a series ostensibly built for her talents, and fresh off an overdue Oscar win, Michelle Yeoh is relegated to delivering some of the worst dialogue you’ll ever hear in what’s already Netflix’s most middling show in some time.

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