Criminal Code

I watched this series as a way to practice my Portugues as I am learning the language. I am not even a big fan of crime series but this one is really excellent and I ended up binge watching it much faster than I thought. The story is actually good, the acting is spot on and for us non Brazilians the photography and the locations are spectacular. Reading the reviews you will find that -surprisingly enough- the most negative are from Brazilians: don't trust them! Our Brazilian friends tend to be too self deprecating, this series is excellent and absolutely on par with good American or European productions. Amigos Brasileiros, sejam orgulhosos e parem com o complexo de vira-lata, porra!

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.

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 sincerely cannot understand the bad reviews of this series.

While it isn't the best series I've seen, it's definitely not the worst. I find it very fast paced, with a different plot than other gang movies/series and very nice to watch.

It's what one would expect form a Jason Statham movie - maybe with more credible happenings. Both the police and the villains have great ideas and aces up their sleeves.

The acting is okay, the effects also. Just give it a try if you're looking for this kind of series/movies. Now I need to start looking for similar titles. Hopefully I find something as good at this :)

First of all, for foreigners, know that the actions in the series are actually quite common in the lives of Brazilians. Our country is huge and crime prevails. A few years ago this new modality emerged in which on a "random" day criminals, drug dealers, corrupt police officers and heavily armed mercenaries invade a city and completely dominate it. There is no chance of resistance, civilians are tied to vehicles, police officers are executed, the entire city is closed. I say this because, looking from the outside, it may seem like a fantasy, but the reality is much worse than what is shown in the series.