Okay movie, but not a masterpiece like the reviews make it out to be.

Rating: 5/10 (20 October 2013)

City of God is one of the highest rated movies here on IMDb, which has me ask the question: why? Yes, it has some intense scenes, endearing acting, and interesting usage of camera angles, but other than that, City of God is unremarkable.
My first and main complaint about City of God is the high number of characters. There were so many different characters (who all looked very similar) that it became hard to follow what was going on in the story. With so many different characters, it was also difficult to make a connection with any one of them.
I am on the fence when it comes to the cinematography of City of God. I think during some of the scenes the camera angles and filters were very clever in conveying a certain mood. On the other hand, sometimes these aspects felt unnecessary and almost seemed as though the filmmakers were just experimenting around.
Overall, I don't think City of God is as great as I was lead to believe. In some instances, it feels like a cheaply made movie. Plus, the run time was much too long. The filmmakers probably should have cut some characters and subplots out of the film to focus more on the main character.