Review – City of God

Believe it or not, I actually expected the slums of Rio de Janeiro to be worse than this. Indeed, aside from the drug-related violence, this place didn’t seem all that bad. Of course the violence is overpowering stuff, certainly the focus of this tale about a boy growing up amid brutal gang wars. Based on a true story and filmed on location, this movie nonetheless has a well-produced feel to it. Yeah, you have to read subtitles. But beyond that this is a gangster movie worthy of anything Hollywood has churned out in recent years, made all the better by the absence of sugar coating. Worth seeing