Original Film Review: Four Brothers

There are few things in life stronger than the love between a mother and her children. In director John Singleton’s action thriller Four Brothers, that bond is prematurely ended when Evelyn Mercer is killed in a convenience store robbery. Upon hearing of her death, her four children return to Detroit to search for answers.

Without having any significant clues about the murder, Bobby (Mark Wahlberg), Angel (Tyrese Gibson), Jeremiah (Andre Benjamin), and Jack (Garrett Hedlund) take the search for justice into their own hands. Sometimes overly aggressive and careless in their actions, the brothers stop at nothing to question the people that they think were behind the hit put out for their mother. This even stretches so far as to witness Bobby hold up a gymnasium full of people at gunpoint, just so he can ask everyone a few questions about the crime.

Singleton (who also directed the well-known films Boyz n the Hood and 2 Fast 2 Furious) had a vision for a film full of both conflict and a rash of violence, and that vision is captured during a number of scenes in Four Brothers. Whether taking an interrogation to the extreme or being ambushed at their home, the weapon-yielding brothers do not back down from bloodshed. Through it all, their brotherhood remains in tact and nearly immortal, until an attack from antagonist Victor Sweet’s gang changes everything.

Despite the beatings the men take, nothing ever separates them from the path to finding out who was behind Evelyn’s murder. Not even related by birth, their brotherhood is a real one, and it’s a direct result of the lives that Evelyn granted them. With violence often comes tragedy, but with the brothers, violence only allows them to see clearer into the frazzled minds of those that they hunt.

As one progresses through the movie, it is evident that Four Brothers has more to share than just fistfights. It is a film that takes away innocence from so many, yet it is also one that manages to put the guilty in their rightful place. One could argue that the brothers themselves are true criminals, but others could provide insight into the fact that they are actually avengers – they’re the guys you want to root for.

Singleton’s cast of characters is often reckless, but they are always acting out to defend the honor of Evelyn Mercer. Just like the bond between Evelyn and her sons, brotherhood can never be taken away.