Escouade d'élite: L'ennemi aux portes

I know I'm not supposed to link to other dynamic content here on IMDb, but I think it's worth pointing fellow users to order reviews by Prolific Authors, then read Cláudio de Carvalho's review to this movie. It is the only one of all reviews here, and I've read them, which has accurate information in a well-written form. There's little to add to what Cláudio already said, but if you're still not convinced, there are some extra stuff going on in and around this movie to incite your curiosity.

First, the context, time and social appraisal this movie has received on the box-office weekend is even more complicated than we once thought. I'd just like to say I'm not a sucker for ratings or box-office earnings, but the fact that it toppled any other movie in Brazilian theaters, national or not, is obviously noteworthy.

One month or so after the movie premiered, the actual BOPE was critical, alongside Brazil's Army and Rio State civil and military police, not to mention the huge political circus involved therein - on what's been infamously called The Invasion of the Complexo do Alemão, a huge gathering of equally enormous favela "clusters".

It was the start of a new era on the fight against corruption, organized crime and political inaction. Or so we're led to believe. It turns out not only the anti-hero Captain Nascimento is next to irrelevant on the fight against the Powers that Be, but so is pretty much everyone else.

Some people - myself included - have speculated that politicians used the upside-down popularity of the movie to go ahead with the invasion in the Alemão. I don't know where Padilha stands on this, but I think I have a quite good idea on where he stands, as far as idolizing the police, BOPE, Nascimento or violent acts of any sort go. But who would have thought? We're THIS stupid. Fortunately, the Invasion was bloodless. Yes, fortunately and extremely weird.

Anythewho... Add to that another unexpected impact of the movie on police crackdown on illegal DVD sales. While the first one notoriously skyrocketed pirate DVD purchases, which contributed to its fast insertion on public culture - the second one was remarkably unseen, or with good quality, in the streets with the camelôs.

Overall, I'd classify this movie as a masterpiece on its own. I took 2 points out of it for being a sequel, but I'm torn and seriously considering changing to 10/10. "City of God" didn't have a sequel, and it's good just like that. In the other hand, if we didn't have this sequel, we wouldn't have such a powerful and strong movie, one that speaks deep - or should - to our innermost misconceptions about poverty and the mind-numbing War on Drugs.

Unfortunately, the Steven Seagal-esque Brazil took a stand and it wasn't the one I like the most. People in power or not have and will keep misconstruing Padiha's work because we're just like that, we love to choose the moron way.

I saw the film in its world premiere in Paulinia, São Paulo. !.500 people in the audience. Perhaps, 1/3 industry members and 2/3 non-industry members. It was a collective catharsis, I only remember a group experience of the same intensity watching Crouching Tiger in its Cannes premiere.

The audience applauded the film five times, the last a standing ovation. Capitão Nascimento has become the alter ego of every Brazilian, seeking a secure place to live. I think the film will find an echo in neighboring Latin American countries.

Compared to Tropa de Elite 1, the second delivery is a much more mature picture, a deeper look into the issues that plague every Latin American major city- citizen's security, human rights, and political responsibility.

Since City of God, I have not seen such a round and impactful film about the social reality in Brazil. Remarkable work of José Padilha, Braulio Mantovani with a seamless screenplay. Lula Carvalho's precise work as a DOP, Daniel Rezende's brilliant editing, not to mention Wagner Moura's surprising delivery as a mature Nascimento.

A total must see, and absolute award season favorite

While the first movie tells the story of 3 cops, and evolves around them, this sequel takes a view from above. There is no character development like in the first installment, however the story is more complicated and it takes more effort to explain it.

The First movie, concentrates on a BOPE squad, and the drug dealers it fights. Elite Squad 2 shows a bigger picture. It shows the politicians and Defense system mechanism that operates the squad, and the purposes it is used for. Instead of police corruption we see here murderers in uniform.

There are some flaws in the plot, and it slightly falls in comparison with the first one, however, overall it's very impressive.

I would recommend seeing The first installment before.

This is a completely different movie from Tropa de Elite 1. That movie was about a few guys and their personal stories as they deal with crooked cops. They were a hindrance to good police work but not really a menace, more an annoyance. This movie is all about real deep- seated corruption in Brazil. The bad guys here are actually evil and ruthless, and as a result the stakes are higher for the protagonists.

The good: just as memorable action scenes, although there were less of them. The story had several twists and turns and it was fascinating overall

The bad: Character development seemed to have taken a back seat here to the grand narrative. The distinct personalities of the first movie are kind of reduced. Andre Matias is the biggest example of this, and I was disappointed with what they did with him. Cpt. Nascimento's wasn't nearly as bad-ass or imposing as in TdE1.

I recommend this to anyone who likes a good crime movie with a message. I'm not Brazilian but this movie still made me think.

9/10

This film shows everything about the corruption of the police in Rio. It shows on details how it works and how the politicians are involved, taking advantages of the corrupt system. Also, many characters that appear on the film are based on actual ones, like an ex-governor and an ex-secretary for Public Security.

It's a must-see film, mainly if you are a Brazilian citizen. Unfortunately, because of political interests, this film wasn't indicated for Oscar. It would be a great candidate for winning it. The one that was chosen, "Lula o Filho do Brasil" is a tendentious film that shows the supposed biography of Lula.