TL;DR – This is a film that is 80% set up, and I am not sure the ending was worth it.
Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.
Disclosure –I paid for the Amazon Prime subscription used to watch this film.
Brothers Under Fire Review Introduction
Today, we are looking at a film that I knew nothing about until it appeared on my feed, an enigma of a movie. But it was also an intriguing mystery, because it is something of an occupational hazard that I know about most films released out of America. But that mystery is a potential promise until proven otherwise.
So, to set the scene, in Syria, east of the Al Omar mountain oil fields, an American platoon is under attack, with only a very close air strike saving them. A good thing because Alberto Castillo (Tommy Martinez) is getting married, and the whole troop, including Capt. Jordan Wright (Kiefer Sutherland), Danny Walton (Solly McLeod), Lieutenant Carson (Ashton Sanders), and Marco Hino (Laird Akeo), are invited to Columbia for the nuptials to Isabella Perez (Laura Osma). What no one realises is that the local cartel is on the move after a messy takeover of a rival organisation, and soon everyone is caught up in the storm.
All Set Up
The first major issue with this film is that it is all set up, and not that much reward. Not that I usually mind taking time to build a world. But here it felt mainly inconsequential. More padding than anything else. I believe the aim was to land somewhere more on the thriller side of things than a standard action film. But the tonality for that push was not there. So instead of brooding, it felt more like padding for time. Unfortunately, all we get is a lot of wasted time between stretches of brooding. Thankfully, the cast is mostly engaging, which stops it from being a complete loss.
Fake Blood – Low Impact
The second major issue is that if you are going to spend your whole film building up to that crescendo, it needs to ring out. Unfortunately, while it is not a dull thud, it does lack real impact. Part of that comes from poor blood digital effects that pull you out of the film; honestly, just use squibs, people. It also stems from some surprisingly limp action moments that feel as though they needed another take, with a few sequences bordering on embarrassing. Though with that in mind, the locations are solid; I do respect that there is real threat that no one is walking around with plot armour, and it is probably not the film’s fault that all the hoorah America bits fall flat.
Recommendation
In the end, do we recommend Brothers Under Fire? Look, it is not a complete write-off, and it is watchable. However, I can’t really recommend it, because it lacks the impact needed to pull off a film like this.
Have you watched Brothers Under Fire? Let us know what you thought in the comments below. If you liked Brothers Under Fire, we would recommend War Machine to you because it works in the same space as this film, outgunned and outmanoeuvred in enemy space, but it makes those action scenes have the impact they need to.
By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Bluesky at @Tldrmovrev, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.
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Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Brothers Under Fire
Directed by – Justin Chadwick
Screenplay by – Delbert Hancock & Ian Mackenzie Jeffers
Story by – James Keach & Trevor Albert
Music by – Alex Heffes
Cinematography by – Toby Elwes
Edited by – Joshua Chadwick
Production/Distribution Companies – Curmudgeon Films, Align, Highland Film Group, Vertical Films & VVS Films
Starring – Kiefer Sutherland, Omar Chaparro, Laura Osma, Tommy Martinez, Solly McLeod, Orlando Pineda, Laird Akeo, Ashton Sanders, Diego Vásquez, Flora Martinez, Sebastian Sierra, Cristal Aparicio, Gabriel Camero, Konnier Mosquera, & Mateo Merchan
With – Yuli Pedraza, Camil Colmenares, David Sanchez, Mario Ruiz, Enzo Morales, Freddy Yate, Tatiana Arias, Juan Pablo Solano, Sebastián Eslava, Manuel Santiago Arango, Griff Furst, & James Keach
Rating – Australia: MA15+;
