Elite Squad: The Enemy Within (4.5)

(Trailer)

2010 Brazillian action/crime film by José Padilha.

Former-Captain Nascimento and high ranking security officer in Rio de Janeiro is about to discover what is really going on in Brazil...but at what cost?

This movie was fantastic. It is easily one of the best action/crime films that I have seen over the last year, maybe even the best. It starts out a bit slow and there are a lot of characters that come at you but once things start rolling it just SLAMS into your gut and doesn't stop. Love the pace of this movie. The balance between drama and action was really well done. I loved the use of the narration and the good use of starting the movie with the ending and swinging back around at the end to finish the story. So well done.

Wagner Moura who played Nascimento was great. At first you kind of hate him, well, his character that is, but then you soon get on his side and legitimately care about what he is trying to do.

The script is fantastic. How the movie starts is an entirely different world than the one that it becomes. So gripping and straight to the point. I learned so much and everything I saw is still lodged in my memory and I doubt it will go away soon. It was a good reminder of what's going on in other countries and a great wake up call because while the movie was amazing, the real truth behind it all was powerful and hit home.

Check this out. It's so worth it. Completely impressed.

4.5/5 ADSENSE HERE

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2.5)

(Trailer)

The devil is trying to take human form and the rider is the only one who can stop him.

I liked this one better than the first. I honestly can't remember anything about the first movie other than the fact that I couldn't finish watching it because it was so bad. Trust me, I love all Nick Cage movies (Seeking Justice, Season of the Witch), but this one was beyond Nick Cage's help. If it was more like Drive Angry that was just all N Cage all the time instead of caring about someone else I would've liked it more. Instead, there wasn't enough N Cage for the bad to really be good.

The story was...lame. They kind of throw it at you and leave you to guess who this kid is and then when you find out it doesn't seem to matter at all and what you think will happen does and then it ends and that's that. Sort of worthless as a movie.

It had it's funny parts. Most of the time it was just Nick Cage acting like a crazy person and then turning into a crazy fire skeleton who was even more weird and seemed to enjoy just standing there while the camera shots flipped back and forth between close ups and wide shots of him...standing there...being on fire...ya.

Was hoping it was going to be better but I should've known. There were some cool parts though and some interesting ideas being tossed about but watch Drive Angry instead of this and then watch this if you're too tired to watch a movie that you have to remember.

2.5/5 ADSENSE HERE