Elite Squad (2008)

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

Es algo que siempre me molesta. ¿Es necesario mover tanto la cámara? No digo que no se pueda hacer cámara en mano, ¿pero tan exageradamente rápido? Es como una carrera por meter más planos y más veloces cada vez. No se consigue así el ritmo, pero parece que está de moda y hasta que no se pase, habrá que aguantarloLa película en general la ves y vale, te la crees, pues sí. Pero, no sé, no da para más. No es que me interese mucho.Hay ratos que me sobran, lo cual la hacen larga. Tiene demasiada voz en off. No consigo entrar cuando me cuenta una voz en off en vez de la película.Los actores, no sé si serán todos profesionales, pero si te los crees, aunque no creo que los malos, no sean más malos en la realidad.La iluminación no es mala, pero tendría que ser mejor. Meterte más de lleno.El director, a mí no me gusta. Hay veces que no veo lo que pasa, por su cámara. No por moverla más rápido se da más ritmo. No consigue atraparme y me sobra película.A ver como es la segunda parte, pero me temo que será peor. It's something that always bothers me. Is it necessary to move the camera so much? I'm not saying that you can not make camera in hand, but so overly fast? It's like a race to get more planes and faster each time. The rhythm is not achieved in this way, but it seems that it is fashionable and until it is over, it will have to be enduredThe film in general you see it and it's okay, you believe it, so yes. But, I do not know, it does not give for more. It's not that I'm very interested.There are moments that I have left over, which make it long.It has too much voice in off. I can not get in when he tells me a voiceover instead of the movie.The actors, I do not know if they will all be professionals, but if you believe them, although I do not believe that the bad guys are not worse in reality.Lighting is not bad, but it should be better. Get in more fully.The director, I do not like it. Sometimes I do not see what happens, because of his camera. Not by moving it faster is given more rhythm. He can not catch me and I have a movie left over.Let's see how the second part is, but I'm afraid it will be worse.

Great crime-drama from Brazil. Set in the slums of Rio de Janeiro, Elite Squad is gritty and uncompromising. Plot isn't entirely watertight, but the pace and realism make up for any plot flaws. Direction is solid.Good performances all round.

It's 1997 Rio de Janeiro. Neto and Matias fire on a crowd of partying criminals. They are police disillusioned with the corruption. Captain Nascimento from the elite BOPE (Special Police Operation Battalion) lead his squad into battle. The movie goes back six months earlier. Neto and Matias are new recruits. The Pope is coming to Rio and BOPE has to clean up the slums.I got really annoyed at the non-stop narration with the start of the movie. I also wish the actors playing Neto and Matias are more charismatic. The story is told in a disjointed fashion. There is an ultra-realism about the locations and the people. It is a violent reaction to the crime-ridden slums.

"Elite Squad" is one of my favourite movies of all time. I saw it for the first time a couple of years ago and yesterday I rewatched it. And I back then I liked it a lot, this time, I loved it. Its a rough and realist depiction of the inner Rio de Janeiro, where cops and drug dealers take part on a never-ending war for the favela's dominance. Within the law enforcers side we are presented to three major characters - Captain Nascimento (played by Wagner Moura, the best Brazilian actor from my point of view), and the both aspirants to be cops Neto and Matias. Nascimento is the main character of the two movies and he couldn't be played by a better actor. Moura delivers a performance of a troubled anti-hero, who wants to retire from BOPE (Brazil's special law enforcers) to spend more time with his wife and his future son. Moura is so believable and real that we all tend to love him, despite some of the dubious actions he performs throughout the story. He's a conflicted man, who just leaves when he feels his duty is fulfilled. "A given mission, is an accomplished one". Neto (played by Caio Junqueira) and Matias (played by André Ramiro) are also deeply explored on the plot, with the first being a younger version of Nascimento, reckless and motivated by his sense of justice and duty, while Matias is a young man split between two worlds - the one of the law enforcers and the one of the drug dealers. The directing of José Padilha really leveled the movie up. The sense of tension and pressure is present in the way he shoots the scenes, with the use of over the shoulder angles and a bit of shaky cam on some chases. The firefights are perfectly shot and Rio is showed at its best and worst. The film was produced by the Weinstein brothers which solely gives it distinction amongst other productions.A must-watch.