Todo el poder

I saw this movie in Mexico City while visiting during Spring Break. I think it voices the issues of the inhabitants of Mexico City. The acting was great.....it's great to see tevenovelas' actors doing something else. The use of comedy to deal with such a scary situation was wonderful to watch. I highly recommend this MEXICAN movie.

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.

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.

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.

In "Todo el Poder", a Mexico City man who's fed up with street crime goes to the police to find they are part of the problem, not part of the solution. An unemployed film-maker with a pubescent daughter, an exwife, and girlfriend to juggle, our hero takes matters into his own hands leading to a lighthearted comedy romp which takes a poke at Mexican police corruption. What you won't see in "Todo el Poder" are the Hollywoodistics you would expect from a tinselized studio flick....shootouts, stunts, chases, sex/nudity, effects/CGI, star power or just about anything else which costs the big bucks. What you will get is good camera work, good music, and a solid cast of Mexican actors in a mildly entertaining watch which runs a tad slow and a tad long. Recommended for Spanish-speakers as the payoff may not warrant all the subtitle reading. (B-)