Review of Elite Squad: The Enemy Within (2010) by Miguel S — 09 Apr 2011

Yesterday morning I had the pleasure to go to my shelf and pick up the DVD of the original "Tropa de Elite" (2007) to see again, a fabulous action movie that shows the perspective of an elite squad of the military police of Rio de Janeiro.

It was a more wholesome movie than "Cidade de Deus", not taking an overblown perspective for the dramatic sake of the movie, but instead being a really eye-opener of the power structure inside the Brazilian "favelas", aided by kick-ass action scenes lead by the powerful presence of Wagner Mouras as Lt.

Nascimento, the narrator of the film and leader of the squad. Three years later, the sequel was inevitable. Opening in Brazil last fall, it only reached Europe this week, and it was with eager anticipation that I saw it in a half-packed house last night.

The first film had the squad tackle the enemy inside the favela, focusing on the low scum of drug dealers and the innocent by-standards affected by their actions. This second movie, as the tittle so aptly suggests, tackles a different enemy indeed - a political enemy, and the system itself, to which is allied a more emotional side related to the family of Nascimento.

The first was more of a head-on action flick, but whose head had a well developed brain. This second outing was much more of an epic saga, following the rise of three or four characters over the course of a half a dozen years, including the corrupt cop that reaches mob like status, the small time politician that ends up being a big time one, etc, etc.

Nascimento himself rises, from the command of the special forces to an office job supervising all operations. Good guys and bad guys, all are part of the system, and can't escape from it, for better or for worse.

You can use the system to combat evil, but in doing so you will become a part of the system itself. And that system will always be corrupt. "Tropa de Elite 2" shows us this to perfection, and that the corruption of the political and police spheres is way higher than those of the petty drug dealer of the first film.

And caught in the middle, Nascimento's growing up son, his ex-wife and his ex-wife new husband, a left-wing political rights activist, who wants to combat evil, but also rise politically (the only "coincidence" that seems forced in the film).

The characters of Matias and Fabio are also back, each with their own rise and fall from grace. Director Jose Padilha, initially known for his documentary Onibus 174 (2002), only directed 2 films, the two "Tropa de Elite", the rest of his work being social documentaries.

But he not only achieved the greatest grossing Brazilian film in history (and the most seen in Brazil, surpassing "Avatar"), but he created a worthy complement to the first film, an epic which rivals many mob-epics from Hollywood, and taking a much more political and social stand that must have stroke a chord in the Brazilian high spheres, but without leaving the breath-taking action sequences and the cliff-hangers that grip the audience to the next scene and the next and the next.

The fight goes on, and the "Tropa de Elite" films keep up with the struggles of the brazilian society, at the same time as they present solid entertainment. A great action film with real social awareness, what more can you ask?