Criminal Code

If not, I mean, if there is not a second season - which I am not sure of - so then this series is totally smashed by a cheesy ending, an ending destined to sissies, squeamish under and over fifties housewives...Why such an ending, UNLESS of course if a second season is already "in the pipes" as we say in France, in preparation, or even writing. For the rest, this plot is absolutely my stuff, high scale, XXL armed robbers - not grocery nor gas stations robbers - heavily armed, acting like special forces commandos, and in front of them hard boiled cops whose technicalities in terms of investigation are very well explained, with details galore.... And as you can guess, HEAT is also obviously a material which this series is inspired from, besides also actual events.

The series is set in a region on the border between Paraguay and Brazil, an area with a high crime rate. Although not explicitly advertised as based on a true story, the core theme of bank heists involving professionals with high-caliber weapons is a reality in Brazil, as seen in the recent case in the city of Criciúma. With a good cast from the main part, it serves as an action series and provides a glimpse into the complex situations at the borders of Latin America.

The actors in the main group are good, and the use of individuals who actually live within the favelas for the secondary characters despite a mediocre performance, is immersed in a familiar environment amid funk parties and the slang used.

Shooting a movie in Brazil in troubled neighborhoods is not an easy task, and the production did it big time. In certain sections and the street shots, it looks like a docu-film. The careful and invested production, including the chases, do not fall for any American film. The acting of all the actors is natural and reliable. The plot is fascinating, and I had a hard time understanding in which criticism here there are points of boredom? I watched all 8 episodes on binge and couldn't stop watching. Definitely a good Netflix police action series, and the low overall score as well as for excellent French/ European movies or series is due to ignorance and prejudice.

I really liked the show. My family works in the Federal Police in Brazil, and from what I've seen, 99% of the work involves paperwork and dealing with verbal abuse from a "delegado".

But, of course, the show is fiction, and it's done well. I had a blast watching it, especially because it didn't have the same old actors you see in every Brazilian show (the lame Globo Actors). The show has everything you want from a crime show. Worth watching!

My only problem was with the dialogue. Some lines and curse words felt too fake, like something out of a comedy sketch from Hermes & Renato. This is a common issue in Brazilian movies and series; the dialogue doesn't feel real enough, which is important for a show like this.

As a Brazilian, I grow up with the stigma that very few things produced on Brazil were actually good. Maybe, around the 2000's, it was true, but nowadays, Brazilian productions are so good they might compete with other international production. The characters are deep, the story is magnetic and the overall production is similar to the experience of watching a movie. If there's a flaw to me, is the fact that somethings are over explained, but maybe, it's because I'm already too familiar with those topics lol. Overall, I highly recommend this show to everybody that wants a show full of action, a simple - but well executed - plot and enough touch of violence.