Troupe d'élite - L'ennemi intérieur

Fantastic sequel to Troupe d'élite (2007) that is more intelligent, action-packed and gripping. The film joins as La cité de Dieu (2002) as one of the most realistic portrayals of Rio de Janeiro ever put to film, taking its viewers to the true darkness and corruption that exists in the depths of the city. With a more direct focus on the politics and social issues that make up "the system" and added depth to the character of Capitão Nascimento, Elite 2 is the definition of a worthy sequel that is able to build upon (and even surpass) its predecessor. Surpreendente!

This film shows everything about the corruption of the police in Rio. It shows on details how it works and how the politicians are involved, taking advantages of the corrupt system. Also, many characters that appear on the film are based on actual ones, like an ex-governor and an ex-secretary for Public Security.

It's a must-see film, mainly if you are a Brazilian citizen. Unfortunately, because of political interests, this film wasn't indicated for Oscar. It would be a great candidate for winning it. The one that was chosen, "Lula o Filho do Brasil" is a tendentious film that shows the supposed biography of Lula.

This is a completely different movie from Tropa de Elite 1. That movie was about a few guys and their personal stories as they deal with crooked cops. They were a hindrance to good police work but not really a menace, more an annoyance. This movie is all about real deep- seated corruption in Brazil. The bad guys here are actually evil and ruthless, and as a result the stakes are higher for the protagonists.

The good: just as memorable action scenes, although there were less of them. The story had several twists and turns and it was fascinating overall

The bad: Character development seemed to have taken a back seat here to the grand narrative. The distinct personalities of the first movie are kind of reduced. Andre Matias is the biggest example of this, and I was disappointed with what they did with him. Cpt. Nascimento's wasn't nearly as bad-ass or imposing as in TdE1.

I recommend this to anyone who likes a good crime movie with a message. I'm not Brazilian but this movie still made me think.

9/10

While the first movie tells the story of 3 cops, and evolves around them, this sequel takes a view from above. There is no character development like in the first installment, however the story is more complicated and it takes more effort to explain it.

The First movie, concentrates on a BOPE squad, and the drug dealers it fights. Elite Squad 2 shows a bigger picture. It shows the politicians and Defense system mechanism that operates the squad, and the purposes it is used for. Instead of police corruption we see here murderers in uniform.

There are some flaws in the plot, and it slightly falls in comparison with the first one, however, overall it's very impressive.

I would recommend seeing The first installment before.

Padilha has definitely excelled himself... instead of going into the usual and expected cliché of making a sequel with the exact same formula as the first movie, he goes out of the box and makes a wonderful, completely new, movie. If you are one of those movie fans who would like to see a reproduction of the first movie, who is eager to hear famous lines such as "você é um moleque" or "pede pra sair" once again coming out of Capitão Nascimento's mouth, who wants to see more and more torture, more and more violence. Forget about all of that... this movie has nothing of the sort. Of course there is a lot of shootings, and some torture scenes, but they are nothing compared to the ones in the first movie, they are quick and do not show as much! But do not let this keep you from watching this movie. In fact, what makes this sequel so special is that it doesn't even feel like a sequel, it feels more like a SAGA, Capitão Nascimento's SAGA, his quest for justice and against crime. Its a deeper voyage into Nascimento's feelings and also into the inner workings of the CRIME machine. Its a more mature and better developed movie which will make you think. It will make you angry, and it will make you mad... but in the end it will make you want to cry out loud: GO CAPITÃO NASCIMENTOOOOOOO!!! And cheer for him!