Review of City of God (2002) by Ann Q — 31 Mar 2011
I've been told numerous times that City of God was a movie I absolutely have to see and will automatically love. Well, once the credits hit, I thought to myself, "That really was the film of a man who had previously directed commercials.
" While the camera work is stunning and discreetly reflective of the eras the movie portrays, it overtakes the true potential of this movie: the story. A tale of dozens of children who delve into a world of violence such as this should leave you breathless; one would anticipate an emotional connection to even the main character, let alone the rest of the cast who appear to be in harm's way at every turn.
Instead, we get an incidental narrative and a glamorizing of kid on kid violence, one that wraps up too cleanly and without, seemingly, any painful moments outside of the resting point of many bullets.
It's a shame Meirelles couldn't have delved deeper into his characters instead of making a Brazilian Goodfellas. It would have taken what is a pretty good movie into a great movie.
This review of City of God (2002) was written by Ann Q on 31 Mar 2011.
City of God has generally received very positive reviews.
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