Todo el poder

Mexico City is a violent city. Kidnappings, muggings and other criminal activity keeps its citizens terrorized and powerless to do anything. This seems to be the message from "Todo el poder", an interesting film by Fernando Sarinana, based on the screen play by Enrique Renteria and Carolina Rivera.

"Todo el poder" is a worthy effort from the team that created it, as they explore how the corruption goes all the way to the top. In fact, this corruption is a tool for the power some of the higher ups exert on the general population. There's a lot to be said when a common citizen can't trust the police that is supposed to protect him.

This film shows a side of the corruption in the city in vivid detail. "Todo el poder" is a good example of some of the latest crop of Mexican cinema which transcends the popular fare and tackles a serious aspect of their society. The acting Mr. Sarinana got from his players makes this fast paced film a winner. Daniel Bichir, Cecilia Suarez, Luis Felipe Tovar, as the hysterically funny Elvis Quijano, Juan Carlos Colomba, do excellent work under the director's guidance.

"Todo el poder" has a documentary look, but plays like a thriller and it will not disappoint.

I liked this movie a lot because it's about corruption in my country, and it has a lot of humor, but the truth is that it's not very realistic. There is a lot of corruption here, right, but it would be impossible to solve anything as they do in this movie. It's one of the new mexican films that you shouldn't miss.

What "Todo el Poder" has going for it is that it accurately depicts what living in Mexico City is like. Constant threats of being mugged, kidnapped and worse. This is in no way helped by a corrupt police force which is accurately depicted in the film. If I had to have one complaint, it would probably be that at times the movie is tedious and slow. Besides the fact that we see Demian Bichir yet again in a starring role. Come on, there are other actors out there.

This movie is almost like a documentary of the psychologycal reactions of the inhabitants of mexico city towards violence. Most people from other countries that watch this movie might think that the violence is exagerated, but thats how real life is in mexico city. Thats the strongest point of the movie, the ability to render a crude and real image of the life in mexico´s capital city. The movie starts strong but starts getting a little irreal towards the end. The ending is a little fantasious, and i really doubt we would get happy endings like that in real life. All in all, its a decent B+ movie, and its worth the time to watch it.

How many movies are made that involve police corruption, where the corruption always runs higher than expected? How many crime rings run by corrupt police officers have been thwarted by civilians (in the movies of course)? Todo el Poder has your typical corrupt cop scenario, and plays out as expected. I have seen this movie around a dozen times, all under different titles, and wasn't very impressed by this one.

The plot is the problem: there are no unexpected turns or developments. Even though the film looks decent enough, and the acting is fair, the plot isn't intriguing enough to make you want to continue watching it.

I'm not sure if it was funny, either. I realized there were humorous parts, but I didn't laugh. This, most likely, can be blamed on the fact that I had to read subtitles.

Overall, if you are not tired of the old scenario, and don't mind reading subtitles, you may find this one enjoyable.