City of God Critic Reviews

Metascore®:

83 =
Based upon 13 Critic Reviews
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Boston Globe | Wesley MorrisAdd Critic to Favorites

Full of action, but no soul.Read the full review

Chicago Sun-Times | Roger EbertAdd Critic to Favorites

Breathtaking and terrifying, urgently involved with its characters, it announces a new director of great gifts and passions: Fernando Meirelles.Read the full review

Entertainment Weekly | Lisa SchwarzbaumAdd Critic to Favorites

Undeniably powerful, the work also comes with its own built-in shield against feeling any one character's difficulties too deeply, or for too long.Read the full review

Los Angeles Times | Kenneth TuranAdd Critic to Favorites

A potent and unexpected mixture of authenticity and flash -- even if this is what happened on the ground, making it worth our time on screen is just beyond the contortionist abilities of even this most acrobatic of films.Read the full review

ReelViews | James BerardinelliAdd Critic to Favorites

Despite the grim, serious nature of the subject matter, Meirelles unearths occasional moments of humor, although they are often of the gallows variety.Read the full review

San Francisco Chronicle | Octavio RocaAdd Critic to Favorites

Brutal, tough to watch but impossible to ignore.Read the full review

Slate | David EdelsteinAdd Critic to Favorites

It's sensationally well-made: skittery and kinetic, packed with mayhem, yet framed (and narrated) with witty detachment, so that the carnage never seems garish. The film is far from a work of art, but it marks the emergence of a great new action superchef.Read the full review

The New York Times | Stephen HoldenAdd Critic to Favorites

As the movie's frenetic visual rhythms and mood swings synchronize with the zany, adrenaline-fueled impulsiveness of its lost youth on the rampage, you may find yourself getting lost in this teeming netherworld.Read the full review

The Onion (A.V. Club) | Keith PhippsAdd Critic to Favorites

The film finds a surprising amount of tenderness and humor beneath the brutality. The laughs may catch in the throat, but that's only a byproduct of City Of God's power to leave viewers breathless.Read the full review

USA Today | Mike ClarkAdd Critic to Favorites

This is one movie in which you don't feel the long-ish running time, in part because there always seems to be a surprise (as well as a new street guerrilla) around every corner.Read the full review

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