There isn't much that can be said about Jose Padilha's Elite Squad 2. A sequel to the 2003 original, the film is your typical beat 'em up, shoot 'em up affair; nothing more, nothing less. Oh, there is also a corrupt government involved, go figure.
Now that I got all that out of the way I will admit that Elite Squad 2 is actually quite entertaining, it just isn't anything special. The acting is subpar in that rough, tough, "I'm going to beat the hell out of you" kind of way, and the storyline is a bit bare, but all that is compensated by the action, which is fast-paced, high-octane fun.
Beginning at a particular point and then returning to a time prior to what we have just seen, Jose Padilha attempts to be unique with an old-fashion twist that most of us should see coming from a mile away. But somehow that didn't bother me. In fact, to an extent, it gave me a sense of belonging.
The shoot-out sequences are what won me over, hands down. Again, they weren't anything special, but they were high adrenaline and explosive . I was shocked to see a film like this at Sundance, and maybe it was the fact that it was surrounded by low-budget dramas, but somehow Elite Squad 2 stuck out to me. It isn't a great film, but it sure as hell is entertaining.
