"I've never done anything quite like it."

Sam Song Li is describing a scene from Netflix's dark action-comedy "The Brothers Sun," in which he and his onscreen brother played by Justin Chien are going mano a mano with . . . dinosaurs. To be more accurate, they're fighting mobsters dressed in inflatable dinosaur costumes at a child's Jurassic-themed birthday party.

"So much of it is about Asian American masculinity and insecurity, and that just permeates how we want to present gangs."

"The Brothers Sun" examines what happens when long-estranged siblings – one working for the Triad in Taiwan, one studying pre-med in California – reunite and reckon with the dangerous legacy that a secret their parents kept from them has wrought. As with any self-respecting mob project, "Brothers Sun" packs fight scenes into each of the eight episodes, ratcheting up the action as loyalties are tested and bodies start to pile up. What sets this series apart, however, is how it challenges that violent mindset and hyper-masculinity by reframing the narratives through unexpected left turns and humor.

Salon spoke to several cast and crew members to unpack what makes "Brothers Sun" unique. Byron Wu, who co-created the series with Brad Falchuk ("Pose"), grew up watching organized crime movies, from Hong Kong's "Infernal Affairs" to Martin Scorsese's oeuvre. But it was after seeing an interview with Japanese director Juzo Itami ("Tampopo," "A Taxing Woman") that inspired Wu to write a series that would upend the Triad stories that we know.

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"Itami was a very tongue-in-cheek filmmaker and he did a movie about the yakuza," Wu said. "After the movie came out, he went back home to his apartment, and there are these gangsters waiting for him. They beat him up, cut his face and told him, 'Don't you dare make another movie making fun of yakuza ever again.'

"I thought that was so funny that these guys were so insecure about their jobs that they felt the need to beat up a comedy director. And so that is where that comes from, in terms of how we're looking at these gangsters. So much of it is about Asian American masculinity and insecurity, and that just permeates how we want to present gangs."

Into this framework comes Charles Sun (Chien), a deadly enforcer and heir apparent to Triad gang the Jade Dragons in Taipei. An expected event leads him to suspect a rival gang is going to target his mother Eileen "Mama" Sun (Michelle Yeoh) who's been hiding out in the States and raising his younger brother Bruce (Li) on her own. When Charles heads to California to protect them, he discovers that Bruce has no idea about his family's murderous, criminal side and what dangers that will bring into his life. Meanwhile, Bruce's mind is on his true passion, to be the next improv star for the Groundlings, even though Mama Sun has raised him to someday become a doctor and save lives – not take them.

Michelle Yeoh as Mama Sun in "The Brothers Sun" (Michael Desmond/Netflix)Any project starring Michelle Yeoh comes with certain expectations. Whether she........

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