Launched in 2007, Elite Squad became one of the greatest icons of Brazilian pop culture in the twenty-first century. Victim
of an unprecedented controversy involving piracy in the country, the
film won a legion of fans, who repeated in the streets the jargon they heard in
the cinema - like "pede para sair" (beg to leave), and "faca na caveira" (knife in the skull, which means you are not to be played with).
In Elite Squad 2 (2010), although
unofficially regarded as the most watched Brazilian film of the
decade, the numbers at the box office disappointed producers, as well
as accusations that the film would be fascist. The
greatest merit of José Padilha and Braulio Mantovani, director and
screenwriter of the film respectively, was to prove that there was a
story to tell which exceeded the one seen on the original from 2007. At
first, the movie even deceives the viewer by presenting the same song
in the opening credits ("Elite Squad" by Tihuana ) and the
same idea of the teacher/representative of human rights that does not
understand the fight against crime and is always sided with the bad guys, but then Elite Squad 2 parts to a totally different conception of the first Troop.
The police corruption is also discussed, but it is now seen as a tool of a much more complex game of power. The
film released in elections (October 2010) is symptomatic, since we
can see that politicians portrayed in the production are not much
different from those who were elected to public office recently.
In
Elite Squad 2, Captain Nascimento (played once again with brightness
by Wagner Moura ) is promoted Deputy Secretary of Public Safety of the
State of Rio de Janeiro and is enchanted by owning apparatus to finally
get to combat the crime system and the corruption. However, Nascimento gradually discovers that people around him are also involved in crime and his fight will be
even tougher. At the same time, the protagonist has to deal with problems with the son Rafael (Pedro Van Held) and his ex-wife Rosane (Maria Ribeiro), that even
apart do not accept the violent routine of the Captain, who is
now Colonel .
Keeping
the same hits from the first feature with regard to photography,
editing and soundtrack , Elite Squad 2 still has the quality to prove complex.
The film - and the problems of violence in Rio de Janeiro and other
major cities in Brazil - cannot be explained in a few lines, and
therefore the option of making a sequel to show another aspect of the
matter is absolutely memorable. Of
course some sequences, in particular the action, will remember Elite Squad (2007), but this second film tries its best to avoid redundancy.
Elite Squad 2 is not a documentary about the system, but it definitely 'points its finger' on a few important issues. The film can be seen only as a political action thriller, but in my opinion it is much more than pure entertainment.
Almost all of us know what we will find in the next two hours of
projection when we are willing to watch a romantic comedy like this one. First
of all, it is a film that appeals and is geared towards women and our
boyfriends frown their forehead while in the line to the purchase the tickets, but they end up watching the movie only to accompany us. Concessions that we women also do when we watch Fast and Furious, for example. I am entering the field of relationships between couples because it is precisely the theme of How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.
So
lets go to the point... Kate Hudson is Andie Anderson, a young
journalist from a major women's magazine called Composure. She longs
to cover political stories, but she finds herself writing a "How to" column with tips for girls. After hearing the latest
dating laments of her friend Michelle,
Andie sells her boss Lana the idea of writing a piece on the things women do wrong in a relationship, which she will demonstrate by winning and
then driving away a man in exact ten days. Meanwhile, Mathew McConaughey is Benjamin Barry, an advertising man who wants to win a prestige diamond account at his firm. Ben is competing with his co-workers, Spears and Green, for the assignment, so he tells his boss Phillip that he is the man for the job because he understands women and he can make any woman fall for him in less than two weeks. As fate
would have it, Andie and Ben end up choosing one another for their
mutual assignments, with neither knowing about each others secret
agenda, Ben strives to hold on to Andie while she does everything in
her power to annoy him.
Yes, the script might seem silly, but remember, it is a light film to watch with a boyfriend on a Saturday afternoon. If you just relax, you may really enjoy it. Moreover, the sound track is really good, especially Kiss Me by Sixpence None The Richer,
Follow You Down by Gin Blossoms and Somebody Like You by Keith Urban.
The
first The Hunger Games is a good movie, especially if we compare it with
other adolescents franchises that came to theaters in recent years. At the end,
the audience leaves the theater with a sense of curiosity about what was to
come. However, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is a much more exciting
production. At the end of the second movie, the public is not only curious but also
anxious to see what lies ahead. The end is breathtaking and the audience cannot
wait to see the new sequel. If I had the choice, I would amend the almost two
and a half hours with the Hunger Games - The Hope: Part 1 in one single
session.
After surviving the last edition of the games and saving Peeta (Josh Hutcherson),
Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) becomes a symbol of revolution against the Capital.
President Snow (Donald Sutherland), however, decides to use the 'romance' between
Peeta and Katniss to distract the population and, at the same time, shake the
image of the young martyr. Unable to control the situation, Snow decides to
make a new edition of the game with several former winners. The
"couple" goes back to the arena, now having to face real killers .
Catching Fire has benefited greatly from the change of writers after the
first film. The hiring of Michael Arndt (Toy Story 3 and Little Miss
Sunshine) and Simon Beaufoy (Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?) was
fundamental in making an adventure into something more. The second feature is
much more than "24 people in an arena trying to kill each other". While
the first movie was basically an American version of the Japanese Battle
Royale, the new one focuses on the political history and on building a
climate for the coming revolution.
It is clear that the substance of the story is also from the author Suzanne Collins, but without good drivers many books were lost in this trip to the big screen. Director Francis Lawrence, who took over after the abandonment of Gary Ross, proved a wise choice. He had already gone reasonably in Constantine and I Am
Legend, but here he performs his best work as director. Lawrence creates tension even outside the arena and leaves a mystery in the air of what will happen. The director does well in joining the action scenes - which do
not hide the violence of the environment - with other somewhat scenes of contemplation.
Many are the times when we stopped to observe the beauty of the place, both
in the forest next to the district in which all struggle to survive, and in games where the goal is to kill the person next to you and keep alive.
Far
superior than the original film, as I said , leaving the feeling of "I want more", Hunger Games 2 is also successful in introducing new characters. The introduction of former winners of the games is done elegantly.
The film has everything to please the fans of Collins' books, but the best
thing is that it is not a prerequisite to read the books to enjoy it (I have not read any of them). Who has not read a
single line will also have plenty to entertain. And maybe even be willing to
seek literary work, after all we are dealing with a complex and creative story.
Moreover, in Catching Fire, Jennifer Lawrence established herself as one of the biggest names in Hollywood
today. The actress delivers a nothing but extraordinary character who
suffers from serious dilemmas, such as trying to protect her family, saying in
so many words that she has no time for love. Katniss is not the typical helpless
woman who Hollywood cinema likes to produce and her preoccupation with Peeta,
Gale and even people who she just met shows that she is the central figure of the
story, not because she is present in more lines of the script but by the actions she takes.
Although it has some obvious moments and suffers to convince the viewer
that the life of the protagonist is even in danger, Catching Fire meets its
goals and still leaves several doors to be explored. The most interesting is
that, although the story is divided into several "cores", the
audience does not lose interest in any of them. The fact that the romance can be left
a little aside, for example , only increases the uncertainty (and curiousioty)
about what will happen next. And the same goes for the revolution and for the lives
of several key characters. Moreover, it offers moments of genuine emotion,
like when Katniss and Peeta honor the death of tributes from previous games. I just cannot wait for November to come.
