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Reviews
Tropa de Elite 2: O Inimigo Agora é Outro (2010)
Very Good Film
When I was researching a certain film to watch, I wanted to see something with a lot of action and adventure. "Elite Squad: The Enemy Within" had some of the greatest action scenes I have ever seen. It was an all around great movie. Though at times, it was hard to follow, because they spoke so fast that I could barely read all the subtitles. Another criticism I have for the film is that it did get somewhat complicated at times. There were a lot of moving pieces that were happening all at once. It also did not help that a lot of the actors in the film looked very similar. Other than that, I loved the movie. I really liked the ending. The main character, Colonel Nascimento, was willing to do anything in his power to get revenge for the near death of his son. At first he resorted to violent ideas to get his revenge. Later, he switched to being a more level- headed guy, and he went after the militia by going through court. It was one of my favorite parts when he called out all the crooked representatives on court at once and claimed that he spoke for 3 hours straight. I would highly recommend this film to someone who appreciates intense action and adventure films.
Timbuktu (2014)
Decent Movie
Timbuktu was a very interesting movie. Overall I thought the movie was a little bit boring. Throughout the movie, there were very few excited events, and when those exciting events occurred, they seemed to drag those events out for a really long time. I thought it was an interesting motive to kill someone, because that guy killed one of your cows. I understand there was a lot of built up tension, but that was something kind of ridiculous to put someone over to actually kill a guy. When he finally did kill the guy, he tried to get up over and over again after clearly being killed. The ending was very confusing as well. It seemed as if the entire movie went too slow, but the ending went too fast. It was hard to understand exactly what was going on at the end of the movie. There were many unanswered questions that remained unanswered. The movie could have been much better if they actually answered at least some of those questions.
Rebelle (2012)
Very Good Film
Overall, I believe "Rebelle" was a very good film. If I were to criticize anything about the film, it would be about the confusing introduction. I felt completely lost at the beginning of the film. I was not able to follow everything that was going on at the beginning of the movie. On the other hand, it was extremely exciting when she was forced into the decision of killings her parents herself or having the army kill them at just 12 years old. When she did choose to shoot her parents, it was a shocking and scary wake up call that showed us just how crazy things can get in these African countries. I personally was a big fan of the ending. Though it was sad when magician died, it showed a good representation of how disappointing life can be at such a young age there. As a side note, I thought it was really cool how they made the ghosts look pretty creepy, especially their grey eyes. I also liked how the movie went in a full circle and ended with her returning back to where she killed her parents, so she could bury them. Also, the baby provided a small glance at a happy ending driving off into a new life, leaving the past behind her.
Un homme qui crie (2010)
Movie Review
"A Screaming Man" had some compelling scenes, but much of the movie was very slow to develop. I am aware that African movies have long silences during different times of their movies, but it seemed to be excessive at times. Some different, short scenes seemed very unnecessary with the lack of actual relevant talk about the true message and reason for the movie. For example, when they were eating dinner, the scene seemed to simply just drag on with long silences and uninteresting small talk. It was a little weird how "Champ" decided to send his son off to the war. Then, he wanted to go back and rescue his son later on in the movie. I, also, was not a huge fan of the ending. I found it weird that he found his son dead when driving home. After that, he laid with his son's dead body watching the water. Though it may have been symbolic, I was a little creeped out by the whole idea. There were also a lot of questions that went unanswered. The whole war got brushed under the rug when it appeared to be getting pretty serious. People were fleeing the country due to the big war, but nothing was mentioned about what happened.
Kinyarwanda (2011)
Kinyarwanda
Personally, I really liked the film. I found it really interesting how stories tended to jump around. It was interesting watching the same scenes over, but with a different perspective from many different people. When the movie started, we saw Jean finally come to a party. We, later, figured out that she disobeyed her parents and snuck out of her house. She later found her parents dead at her house. I thought it was smart how it connected the series of events together over time. Along with the parental discovery, we saw the walk home with a couple of different views to it. The whole movie was unique in a really good way. I did like the ending of when they were saved by the soldiers. It led to one of the quieter people in the camp admitting that he was the one that killed Jean's parents. It showed how people can be accepted when asked for forgiveness. It tied up a nice movie with a very solid ending.
Voces inocentes (2004)
Great Film!!!!
Innocent Voices was one of the best international movies I have seen this year. I liked how this movie really pulled the audience into the chaos of war right away. It showed how much this war was a part of their everyday life. The amount of violence very close to their homes was highlighted a few times, and showed just how dangerous the area can be in a war zone. The fact that they also recruited kids at the ages of 12 years old is also incredible to me. This, among many other reasons, shows just how crazy this specific war really is. I also liked following the love story between Chava and Cristina Maria. I thought it was cute when they grew to care a lot about each other. For example, when Chava got a group together and played music outside her house, and when he came back and saw her house in shambles and started crying. Though I had a feeling it was coming, seeing Ancha getting hung was saddening. He was very funny throughout the entire film, and seeing him like that left a dark spot on the outcome. Things also seemed to escalate when dealing with the father of the church. He was very anti-war, and tried to do all he could to help some of the people in the city. Though the soldiers were a bit more lenient towards the father, they did end up taking him away and presumably killed him due to rebellious actions. But, all in all, it was a very enjoyable film.
Cidade de Deus (2002)
Great Movie
I think this film is the best international film I have ever seen. The way they tell the story of each individual story separately while making it all come together is truly brilliant. It is very easy to get mixed up into the fascinating stories of these characters. I like dissecting the lives of gangs to see what that kind of life is like for a normal gang member. This movie went in depth about the lives of many gang members from a few different gangs. I also liked Rocket's perspective on the situation, because he is different from most who live in the City of God. Rocket is a smart young man who can get out of the crazy city and be successful with a good education. While most are forced into the gang life at a young age, Rocket stays true to his path of becoming a photographer without being involved with the dirty work of gangs. It was interesting to me how Lil Ze died. He ended up being shot by a bunch of kids who did not know any better, but this made me wonder that he could have been shot at any point during the movie. It begs me to ask the question of why wasn't he killed at any point during the movie when he was killing people himself all the time.
Hermano (2010)
Great Film!!!!
I really like this film from beginning to end. I like how it shows the bond of brotherhood between Julio and Daniel. You really see how much they care about each other throughout the film. When their mother died, it was an interesting yet enjoyable curve-ball that I did not see coming. I did admire the ending where Daniel put his family before everything else by thinking of his mother and Julio, when attacking Max after the game. Daniel always put soccer in front of the family when going to tryouts and trying to get Julio to play in the championship while mourning their mother's death. In the end, after winning the championship, Daniel figured out that the championship did not mean everything to him, but his family was most important. In that moment, he did not want to lose Julio, so he attacked and killed Max. If I were Daniel, though, I would have told Julio that Max killed their mother way earlier. I would have clarified that it was an accident so that no one got hurt. Instead he waited too long to speak up about the shooting. The ability to play soccer in this community is well regarded in the area. In this particular city, it is all about making it out to a better life. Even though it looked like Daniel had the fast track to the life of a professional soccer player, Julio ended up making it out playing for FC Venezuela.