Friday, February 17, 2012

Elite Squad

The Elite Squad is a dodgy film given that (quoting Wikipedia):
After its exhibition in Berlin Film Festival, critic Jay Weissberg, in a Variety article, called the movie "a one-note celebration of violence-for-good that plays like a recruitment film for fascist thugs". 
On the other hand, it did win the award for best movie in Berlin, and it's been one of the most popular movies of all time in Brazil. If you like action and don't mind violence, you'll probably like it. But it might make you wonder about your inner fascist (if you don't have one at all I don't think you'll like the movie).

Good news! Now there's a much less fascist sequel: Elite Squad: The Enemy Within. This time the human rights activist is one of the good guys. Much more satisfying.

And if you like that kind of thing (violent, crime-filled, foreign films) you'll probably also like the regrettably-named Viva Riva (set in the Democratic Republic of Congo) and Gangster's Paradise: Jerusalema (set in South Africa).

I should perhaps add that all these films seem to show quite a bit about life and politics in the countries where they are set. So it's not just about action.

Here's the trailer for Elite Squad: The Enemy Within:

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