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Bookmark this pageElite Squad: The Enemy Within (2010)
Director: José Padilha
Movie review
From Time Out London
Back in 2007, former documentarist José Padilha’s ‘Elite Squad’, a pumped-up hybrid of action flick and insider portrait, took us inside Rio’s trigger-happy BOPE (Batalhão de Operações Policiais Especiais).This sequel moves the story on 13 years, opening with a handy précis of its predecessor so newcomers are at no disadvantage. Wagner Moura’s determined Captain Nascimento remains centre stage, his realisation that political muscle is needed to shake the drugs gangs from the favelas prompting him to accept the post of under-secretary of state for security. Initial success, however, throws up a new crisis, revealing the protection rackets operated by bent cops and their political superiors as the real canker in society.
While the first film came perilously close to endorsing police brutality, this is a more complex affair, the opening caption declaring it a work of fiction barely dissuades us of its authentic bite. Padilha’s facility for creating action scenes of you-are-there intensity grabs the attention, yet his storytelling struggles to keep too many plates spinning at once and by the time we learn the full scale of the conspiracy, momentum is flagging.
That said, the whole thing’s driven by palpable anger to tell it like it is and a pivotal role for a sociology prof offers a degree of ideological light and shade. A thumping modern policier with a social-conscience edge.
Author: Trevor Johnston
Time Out London Issue 2138, Aug 11-17 2011
User reviews of this film
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- Marty_NZ said...
- Posted on Aug 13 2011 12:51 Good follow up but the wooden acting of the lead really detracts from taking this film higher. Good story line and a great look into Brazilian film making and Rio favela life under corrupt politicians. Overall, however, the gratuitous violence of the first film has given way to film making by numbers.
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Cast & crew
Director: José Padilha
Cast: Wagner Moura, Santos Morales full cast
Rated: 18
Duration: 114 mins
UK Release: Aug 12 2011
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