Brutal and vindictive the story of Blood Brother delivers a very lively thriller that has all the elements for those who like their crime dramas down and dirty. Nicely acted and directed, the movie is now available on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD. Your treat here are the locations, sets and cinematography that takes you into the heart of urban revenge.
Just getting out of jail after 15 years of serving time for taking the murder and theft rap for fellow teen gang members, Jake Banning (Jack Kesy) heads back to his family and “friends”. His fellow fledglings Sonny (Tremaine “Trey Strongz” Neverson), Joe Williams (Hassan Johnson) and Kayvon (J.D. Williams) have aged as much, but have been free to live out their lives. The four teens had witnesses the robbery of an armored car where all involved were killed so they took the money, with Jake being caught at the scene.
Sonny, now a detective on the police force, had stashed the money from the armored car robbery has kept it on ice all the years Jake was in prison. With Jake now out, the split can be made. But, what was supposed to be a quick split of the dough, turns out to be an unexpected twist.
Director John Pogue does a terrific job of setting up the film and laying all the details out early on before getting into the gritty and exciting turn of events. What makes the film work is the acting, especially the two main protagonist “brothers” who find themselves at odds with each other. Very ruthless and cruel Jake wants amends for his 15 years behind bars and actor Jack Kesy makes his character scary and bitter. As the opposite side of the coin, Sonny wants him to get what’s coming to him, even if he has to give Jake his share. Pogue delivers an action packed game of cat and mouse with his two stars going at it tooth and nail.
BONUS FEATURES: The bonus features include the following extras:
“Audio Commentary with Director John Pogue and Actor Trey Songz” Turn this on after you have watched the film and play their interesting and sometimes comical description of various scenes.
“Blood Brother: Behind the Scenes” This featurette includes comments from Jack Kesy, China Anne Mcclain, Trey Songz, Tannee McCall, R-Truth, stunt coordinators Chuck Piscerni, Jr. and Vanessa Motta, production designer James A. Gelarden all talking about their roles or jobs in making of the film.
Blood Brother has been rated R by the MPAA for strong violence, language throughout, some drug use and sexual content. The film has been released on DVD, Blu-ray and VOD.
FINAL ANALYSIS: An action packed movie with a couple of outstanding performances. (3.5 out of 5 Stars)
Specifications and additional video information:
Cast: Trey Strongz, China Anne McClain, Jack Kesy, Chelle Ramos, Tanee McCall, Hassan Johnson, Ron “R-Truth” Killings, J.D. Williams, Fetty Wap
Director: John Pogue
MPAA Rating: R for strong violence, language throughout, some drug use and sexual content
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama,
Running Time: 1 hr. 30 min
Video Release Date: January 29, 2019
Original Theatrical Release Date: November 30, 2019
Language: English (changeable to Spanish)
Reviewed Format: Blu-ray
Audio: DTS-HD 5.1
Video: Widescreen, 16×9 Aspect Ratio 1.85:1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
Number of Discs: 1 disc plus Digital Code
Distributed by: Lionsgate Films
Released in: Blu-ray, DVD, Digital HD
Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com
