What makes it different from others?

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

I may be one of the few reviewers for the film on this board that didn't realize it was a sequel of sorts, although a quick opening screen shot does state "Elite Squad 2". It doesn't matter, there is no loss of continuity once you get a feel for the principal characters and see what direction they're going in. This is both a crime and political thriller that puts a single honest bureaucrat in the middle of a system that includes a thieving military, drug cartel gang-bangers and highly placed politicians all taking their cut from a disadvantaged citizenry. The story demonstrates just how flexible outlaws can be. When the drug trade in a poverty stricken province is eliminated, the dirty cop money dries up along with it, so the enterprising militia police simply turn to extorting people living in the slums for even greater benefit. It's all very depressing and seemingly insurmountable for a single individual to make headway under the conditions presented, though Lt. Colonel Nascimento (Wagner Moura) eventually makes some progress at the expense of personal trauma of his own. If your only experience of action films has been American made movies, this Brazilian picture will inspire you to seek out more foreign films for the professionalism they reveal in screen writing and cinematography. Prepare to be surprised and captivated by this one.

When I was researching a certain film to watch, I wanted to see something with a lot of action and adventure. "Elite Squad: The Enemy Within" had some of the greatest action scenes I have ever seen. It was an all around great movie. Though at times, it was hard to follow, because they spoke so fast that I could barely read all the subtitles. Another criticism I have for the film is that it did get somewhat complicated at times. There were a lot of moving pieces that were happening all at once. It also did not help that a lot of the actors in the film looked very similar. Other than that, I loved the movie. I really liked the ending. The main character, Colonel Nascimento, was willing to do anything in his power to get revenge for the near death of his son. At first he resorted to violent ideas to get his revenge. Later, he switched to being a more level- headed guy, and he went after the militia by going through court. It was one of my favorite parts when he called out all the crooked representatives on court at once and claimed that he spoke for 3 hours straight. I would highly recommend this film to someone who appreciates intense action and adventure films.

There are a handful of movies that provoke the same emotional reaction so consistently as this one. I have watched it over at least 5 times. The movie is very intense in that all the scenes are very well- connected and well balanced between narration and action. There is much less action and violence than the first one, but it is compensated by the well written script, which keeps audience on the edge of the seat as the whole storyline unfolds.I felt like I have grown with the protagonist from the first movie. As his fight has gone from tactical to strategical, the perspective of the movie has graduated to higher, more holistic level. Though fictional, the movie tells a story that many different countries share- a society hijacked by systematic corruption, social inequality, and gang violence. As credit rolls, I found myself sitting in silence pondering my role in this ecology, how we have come to this, and more importantly, how we can extricate ourselves from this situation. I believe this is precisely what the director wanted us to think.The acting and soundtracks are up to the standards in my opinion, and the action scenes are much closer to reality than most Hollywood movies. Unfortunately, no movie is perfect; in my opinion, the characters are not very well developed. It is a movie dedicated to a political message, and I respect the decision of the director to make it so. However, that means lengthy narration outlining the structure of the corrupted system took priority over develop connection between the audience and the characters. I personally would prefer using more acting, interactions, and development of the plot itself as oppose to plain verbal narration.Nonetheless, it is a great movie and I would definitely recommend it to those who are interested in political and social topics.

Roberto Nascimento (Wagner Moura) is in charge of a bloody recapture of a High-Security Penitentiary in Rio de Janeiro. Human Right worker Diogo Fraga was visiting the prison at the time, and he blames Nascimento for the bloodshed. However Nascimento becomes more popular than ever, and he's promoted. He eventually loses his wife to Fraga. His son hates him. As the gangs are driven out of the slums, the corrupt police takes over. They form militias which produces votes for corrupted politicians. Soon Nascimento is surrounded by his enemies in his own office.This is a vast epic sprawling movie. That's the source of its main problem. This would make a great TV serial. Instead of 2 hours, this story could use 10-20 hours. This reminded me a lot of 'The Wire'. As a 2 hr movie, this needs to be boiled down to concentrate on Nascimento. This needs to be his story, not the epic story of corruption in Rio. I was also a little annoyed by the voice over narrations. With such a vast story, a narration to explain things was probably needed. The action is all there. The violence and the edgy story is well done. However the ambition is maybe too big for one movie.