Elite Squad 2: The Enemy Within

This is by far the best movie of the year!

I enjoyed the first movie very much but the sequel even surpasses that. The story is more complex and keeps you interested and involved all the way. The central character is again Roberto Nascimento who is now more mature, as the story is set 13years later than the first movie. His enemies are corrupted policemen and politicians who prove to be much bigger threat than the drug lords as they have political power to influence Nascimento's position. Nascimento will have to adapt and learn to fight on other fields using new methods.

This time we also learn more about Nascimento's family and his relationship with them, especially with his adolescent son.

I'll say one thing right off the bat, this movie is incredible. I saw it in a packed theater at the Sundance film festival and I've never heard louder applause from an audience. I would recommend watching the first film, just because its also very good and introduces all the characters. However, this film stands on its own. The director sought to make this stand out from the first film and he succeeded. This has fantastic action, great dialogue, and some hilarious dark humor. But most of all, its intelligent, its extremely well made, it's not plagued with any awkward or out of place moments. For some viewers, this film might actually be a learning experience. If you want to see an action film that isn't 90% action and 10% plot. If you want something that's hardcore, fearless, and has a message, this is it. Check it out, you won't be disappointed.

This film shows everything about the corruption of the police in Rio. It shows on details how it works and how the politicians are involved, taking advantages of the corrupt system. Also, many characters that appear on the film are based on actual ones, like an ex-governor and an ex-secretary for Public Security.

It's a must-see film, mainly if you are a Brazilian citizen. Unfortunately, because of political interests, this film wasn't indicated for Oscar. It would be a great candidate for winning it. The one that was chosen, "Lula o Filho do Brasil" is a tendentious film that shows the supposed biography of Lula.

Padilha has definitely excelled himself... instead of going into the usual and expected cliché of making a sequel with the exact same formula as the first movie, he goes out of the box and makes a wonderful, completely new, movie. If you are one of those movie fans who would like to see a reproduction of the first movie, who is eager to hear famous lines such as "você é um moleque" or "pede pra sair" once again coming out of Capitão Nascimento's mouth, who wants to see more and more torture, more and more violence. Forget about all of that... this movie has nothing of the sort. Of course there is a lot of shootings, and some torture scenes, but they are nothing compared to the ones in the first movie, they are quick and do not show as much! But do not let this keep you from watching this movie. In fact, what makes this sequel so special is that it doesn't even feel like a sequel, it feels more like a SAGA, Capitão Nascimento's SAGA, his quest for justice and against crime. Its a deeper voyage into Nascimento's feelings and also into the inner workings of the CRIME machine. Its a more mature and better developed movie which will make you think. It will make you angry, and it will make you mad... but in the end it will make you want to cry out loud: GO CAPITÃO NASCIMENTOOOOOOO!!! And cheer for him!

Fantastic sequel to Elite Squad (2007) that is more intelligent, action-packed and gripping. The film joins as City of God (2002) as one of the most realistic portrayals of Rio de Janeiro ever put to film, taking its viewers to the true darkness and corruption that exists in the depths of the city. With a more direct focus on the politics and social issues that make up "the system" and added depth to the character of Capitão Nascimento, Elite 2 is the definition of a worthy sequel that is able to build upon (and even surpass) its predecessor. Surpreendente!