CMG HC_ D1 021011.indd - The Hollywood Reporter

Reviews
Elite Squad 2
By Stephen Farber
THOSE WHO HAVE
had their fill of
angst and weirdness
at this year’s
Sundance Film Festival
relished one of the festival’s
most purely entertaining
movies, Elite Squad 2: The
Enemy Within, which also
happens to be the most
successful Brazilian movie
in history. Director Jose
Padilha has had several earlier
films at Sundance and
this year served as a juror in
the world cinema documentary
category. Action movies
aren’t usually showcased
at Sundance, but this movie
does have the sense of
political anger and urgency
that distinguishes many
other films at the festival.
Following up on some
of the themes and characters
of Elite Squad, the
brutal thriller that won the
Golden Bear in Berlin in
2008, the sequel is actually
a more compelling movie.
And unlike many sequels,
it is completely selfcontained,
so if you don’t
remember a thing about
the first movie, that won’t
interfere with your enjoyment
of this one. From the
brilliantly staged opening
sequence — a prison riot
that turns into a bloodbath
— the energy never lets up.
The main character, Nascimento
(Wagner Moura),
the leader of Rio de Janeiro’s
special military police
unit, mismanages the prison
riot, so he is removed from
his job but eventually kicked
upstairs to a government
intelligence post. There he
uncovers a web of corruption
that spreads from the
police department to the
highest levels of government.
Although the film is
billed as fiction, it draws
on real scandals in Brazil,
which may explain why it
has connected so powerfully
with audiences at home. A
8
smart distributor should be
able to lure an American
audience as well, because
the picture has considerable
suspense as well as piercing
human insight.
Much of the humanity
comes from Moura’s performance.
While Nascimento
can kick butt with the sangfroid
of Dirty Harry, the
actor also conveys genuine
anguish when surveying the
tragic consequences of the
violence ravaging Rio. In the
opening scenes Nascimento’s
nemesis is a publicityhungry
human rights
advocate, Fraga (Irandhir
Santos), a crusader against
police brutality who also
happens to be married to
Nascimento’s ex-wife (Maria
Panorama
Bottom Line: A fast-paced,
hard-hitting Brazilian police
thriller.
Production: Zazen Producoest
Cast: Wagner Moura, Irandhir
Santos, Andre Ramiro, Pedro
Van Held, Maria Ribeiro, Sandro
Rocha, Milhem Cortaz. Director:
Jose Padilha. Screenwriters:
Braulio Mantovani, Jose Padilha
Producers: Marcos Prado, Jose
Padilha Executive producers:
James D’Arcy, Leonardo Edde
Elite Squad 2
Ribeiro). Eventually, however,
the cop and the journalist
join forces to expose
the real villains — a cadre of
vicious, corrupt cops led by
the menacing Sandro Rocha
and Milhem Cortaz.
Nascimento’s relationship
with his teenage son
(Pedro Van Held) adds
unexpected tenderness
to the chases and shootouts.
The violence is less
relentless than in the first
movie, but it still packs
a visceral charge. The
one flaw in the film is an
excessive use of voice-over
narration by Nascimento.
Much of the exposition
seems unnecessary given
the cogent visual storytelling
that Padilha masters.
Tight editing keeps driving
the movie forward, and the
director and his cinematographer,
Lula Carvalho,
capture the many sides of
Rio, from the favelas to the
sleek corridors of power.
Could there be a third Elite
Squad? Given the success
of Part 2 and the slightly
ambiguous ending, don’t
bet against it. THR
day1_rev_elite.indd 1 2/9/11 4:01 PM