Todo el poder

"Todo El Poder" is an intelligent critic towards corruption, politics, and the high wave of crimes happening in Mèxico City.

At first it was conceived as a social critic against the system and the fore-mentioned situations that every day keep damaging our country; but the truth is that this movie isn't a straight accusation against someone or something in specific. Let me explain myself. If you want to criticize politicians, governors, narcos, you need to give specific names and situations. But that would mean danger in Mexican society.

Still, "Todo El Poder" tries to cover many situations from modern Mexican society and it does it in a great manner filled with black comedy, drama, and bits of realism.

The acting is great but some characters are very clichèd. Good performances by Colombo, Suàrez, and Tovar. The rest of the cast is also good.

If you want to have an idea of how Mexican's Judicial System works, watch "Todo El Poder" to know more about it but only funnier.

The mirror of the actual mexican society full of corruption in the system is the principal plot of this film that we can see with the eyes of a citizen that lives in the city between the disgusting system that governs with corrupted policemen corrupted politics even corrupted priests that the only thing that they wants it's the taste of the power and the money. A sad, but truth story of a country that is crying for justice, but the only thing it have are lies.

In "Todo el Poder", a Mexico City man who's fed up with street crime goes to the police to find they are part of the problem, not part of the solution. An unemployed film-maker with a pubescent daughter, an exwife, and girlfriend to juggle, our hero takes matters into his own hands leading to a lighthearted comedy romp which takes a poke at Mexican police corruption. What you won't see in "Todo el Poder" are the Hollywoodistics you would expect from a tinselized studio flick....shootouts, stunts, chases, sex/nudity, effects/CGI, star power or just about anything else which costs the big bucks. What you will get is good camera work, good music, and a solid cast of Mexican actors in a mildly entertaining watch which runs a tad slow and a tad long. Recommended for Spanish-speakers as the payoff may not warrant all the subtitle reading. (B-)

What "Todo el Poder" has going for it is that it accurately depicts what living in Mexico City is like. Constant threats of being mugged, kidnapped and worse. This is in no way helped by a corrupt police force which is accurately depicted in the film. If I had to have one complaint, it would probably be that at times the movie is tedious and slow. Besides the fact that we see Demian Bichir yet again in a starring role. Come on, there are other actors out there.

How many movies are made that involve police corruption, where the corruption always runs higher than expected? How many crime rings run by corrupt police officers have been thwarted by civilians (in the movies of course)? Todo el Poder has your typical corrupt cop scenario, and plays out as expected. I have seen this movie around a dozen times, all under different titles, and wasn't very impressed by this one.

The plot is the problem: there are no unexpected turns or developments. Even though the film looks decent enough, and the acting is fair, the plot isn't intriguing enough to make you want to continue watching it.

I'm not sure if it was funny, either. I realized there were humorous parts, but I didn't laugh. This, most likely, can be blamed on the fact that I had to read subtitles.

Overall, if you are not tired of the old scenario, and don't mind reading subtitles, you may find this one enjoyable.