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Elite Squad

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Elite Squad (2008)

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Reviews Counted:34

Fresh:18

Rotten:16

Average Rating:5.1/10

Consensus: Brutal, action heavy, Brazilian cop film with a pointless voiceover. Lacks flair, overdoes the violence and is never quite sure where its morals lie.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for strong violence, pervasive language and drug content.

Runtime: 1 hr 58 mins

Genre: Foreign Films

Theatrical Release:2008

Synopsis: One of the most notorious releases in the history of Brazilian cinema, Jose Padilha's ELITE SQUAD exposes the rampant corruption plaguing Rio de Janeiro from a policeman's point of view. The only... One of the most notorious releases in the history of Brazilian cinema, Jose Padilha's ELITE SQUAD exposes the rampant corruption plaguing Rio de Janeiro from a policeman's point of view. The only problem is that, in Rio, the police are as corrupt as the criminals themselves, creating a ferociously violent atmosphere. Even the BOPE squad, an elite police force called in when the regular units are out of their league, resort to tactics that border on fascist. The film's narrator, Captain Nascimento (Wagner Moura), is increasingly tormented by the high-pressure situations he finds himself in on a daily basis--the city's favelas are like unmonitored war zones--and he yearns for the day when he can retire and enjoy a normal life with his pregnant wife. But he won't turn in his papers until he's able to find a suitable replacement. Two of the squad's latest recruits, Matias (Andre Ramiro) and Neto (Caio Junquiera), childhood friends with different perspectives on the corruption they encounter, might just do the trick. Nascimento tests their mettle once and for all when they are ordered to secure one of the region's most dangerous favelas. Padilha brings a documentary-like realism to ELITE SQUAD, which is as assaulting an experience as a movie can get (his first film, the riveting BUS-174, was, in fact, a documentary). Based on the book TROPA DE ELITE by Luiz Eduardo Soares, Andre Batista, and co-screenwriter Rodrigo Pimentel, Padilha's controversial glimpse into Rio's nightmarish criminal world will challenge and disturb viewers. [More]

Starring: Wagner Moura, André Ramiro, Caio Junqueira, Milhem Cortaz

Starring: Wagner Moura, André Ramiro, Caio Junqueira, Milhem Cortaz, Fernanda Machado, Maria Ribeiro, Fábio Lago, Fernanda De Freitas

Director: José Padilha

Director: José Padilha
Screenwriter: José Padilha, Braulio Mantovani, Rodrigo Pimental
Producer: José Padilha, Braulio Mantovani, Marcos Prado
Composer: Pedro Bromfman
Studio: IFC Films

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Release:

Oct 14, 2008

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Reviews for Elite Squad

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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A satisfactory enough cop movie, but not one that people will still be name checking years hence

Full Review Source: Antagony & Ecstasy | comment Comment
01/13/09
Tim Brayton
Tim Brayton
Antagony & Ecstasy

Given that Brazil, as a Latin American moviemaking powerhouse, steadily produces vibrant, vital films of real impact and humanity, it's a crime itself that Elite Squad may be the only Brazilian film that American audiences see this year.

Full Review Source: Christian Science Monitor | comment Comment
09/25/08
Robert Koehler
Robert Koehler
Christian Science Monitor

A depressing film that celebrates brute strength as the only means to stem the tide of violence and crime in Rio de Janeiro.

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment 2 Comments
09/20/08
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

For nearly two hours, Padilha bombards viewers with senseless, sickening violence for its own sake.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment 1 Comment
09/19/08
V.A. Musetto
V.A. Musetto
New York Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

With no star names and a tough subject, it will be hard sell despite being a runaway hit on its home turf.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment 1 Comment
09/19/08
Richard Mowe
Richard Mowe
Boxoffice Magazine

Elite Squad is a relentlessly ugly, unpleasant, often incoherent assault on the senses from Brazil.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
09/19/08
Manohla Dargis
Manohla Dargis
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A poor man's City of God that suggests the only answer to the problems of Brazil's slums are blazing guns wielded by a neo-fascist police force.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment 1 Comment
09/19/08
Chris Barsanti
Chris Barsanti
Film Journal International

Trying to address important and serious social issues in this violent world rather than just creating something sensationalistic or exploitative gives Elite Squad an edge over normal police thrillers.

Full Review Source: ComingSoon.net | comment Comment
09/18/08
Edward Douglas
Edward Douglas
ComingSoon.net

Elite Squad can’t decide whether it wants to pull the lid back on what urban decay has wrought or simply open up a can of whup ass.

Full Review Source: Time Out New York | comment Comment
09/17/08
David Fear
David Fear
Time Out New York

Elite Squad succeeds at putting the worst of the violent spectacles on screen, primarily through a series of nicely staged shootouts and torture sequences.

Full Review Source: New York Press | comment Comment
09/17/08
Eric Kohn
Eric Kohn
New York Press

[José Padilha] recariously pitches the squad's brute force as less a necessary evil than the outgrowth of an existing evil -- a no-win situation that mocks liberal ideals and warps conservative pragmatism into domestic terrorism.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
09/17/08
Jim Ridley
Jim Ridley
Village Voice
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It bears a resemblance to viscerally exciting seventies urban thrillers like The French Connection, in which only the fascists could do what needed to be done.

Full Review Source: New York Magazine | comment Comment
09/15/08
David Edelstein
David Edelstein
New York Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The film's message is that all of society is corrupt, so it doesn't matter who gets killed. It's a propaganda movie that shows no empathy for its characters or for its audience.

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
09/03/08
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

Padilha succumbs to monotonous, hollow flamboyance with his City of God clone.

Full Review Source: Lessons of Darkness | comment Comment
09/02/08
Nick Schager
Nick Schager
Lessons of Darkness

The moral dilemmas are gripping, but the film takes itself far too seriously to ever connect with us.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
08/08/08
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

A film that simply doesn’t have enough cinematic flair to make it a better than average cops and robbers thriller.

Full Review Source: This is London | comment Comment
08/08/08
Derek Malcolm
Derek Malcolm
This is London

Padilha gets as close to the daily violence as City of God, though this feels more like a documentary than an epic.

Full Review Source: Independent | comment Comment
08/08/08
Anthony Quinn
Anthony Quinn
Independent

Padilha’s style, honed in his hijack documentary Bus 174, is verismo with a vengeance. For two hours the viewer feels as hand-held as the camera, hauled about by the neck.

Full Review Source: Financial Times | comment Comment
08/08/08
Nigel Andrews
Nigel Andrews
Financial Times

As for the plot, flashy editing and an over-reliance on jittery handheld cameras mean you’ll struggle to tell what’s going on – if you haven’t already given up by then.

Full Review Source: Daily Mirror [UK] | comment Comment
08/08/08
Daily Mirror [UK]

Nothing is clear-cut in this intense brew of brutality, stupidity and genuine tragedy. We’re left lamenting that it will go on, unless Brazil engages its brain before its fist.

Full Review Source: Total Film | comment Comment
08/08/08
Total Film
 
 
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Latest News for Elite Squad

January 28, 2009: Uni Chooses Jose Padilha for The Sigma Protocol Opens in new window
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