"City of God' is a mesmerizing and honest look at people surrounded by crime and the path's it causes us to lead.

Rating: Null/10 (26 July 2014)

Every location on earth isn't 100% the same all throughout its area. Brazil for instance has been praised as having some of the most vibrant beauty, fun people, interesting culture aspects, and fun times anyone can ever experience. However, in the City of God there is absolute chaos and tragedy. "City of God" is a compelling and tragic true story of about two boys growing up in the slums of Rio De Janeiro who are vulnerable to a brutal and indulging world and take on two different paths in life. Rocket is a good-hearted young man who despises the City of God for it's filth, violence, and misery. Rocket dreams about becoming a photographer in order to show the terrifying world in which he and others life in to expose the City of God to raise awareness. The gang he is targeting is led by Lil Ze, a ruthless drug dealer who owns the city and just so happens to be the other boy the story follows. Rocket tries to take him down, which proves to be even more challenging than growing up in this unrelenting city. People are destined to make a change in their surroundings no matter what moral path they follow. That's what we learn from this exuberant crime story, that people are motivated to do good and do bad in order to change their lives and earn respect and power. Rocket tries to use his ability to do good, where Lil Ze uses his power to do evil. The city in which the two boys live in appears absolutely awful, but deep down Rocket represents hope in not just a ruthless city, but in any devastating location. There is always a chance of hope. The two boys are shown as they go through their lives from a very young age to their twenties. The story reflects growing up and the choices we make as children can affect our lives in the future. Director Fernando Meirelles captures the slums of Brazil in an absolutely groundbreaking way. Meirelles portrays a hopeless city and uses a tab of hope in this wonderful script to represent how hope is always in the most depressing locations. On top of that you have spectacular cinematography with a beautiful musical score to help visually portray this devastating/beautiful story. Harsh violence and thorough character development get you so wrapped up in the main characters that you'll have extremely strong feelings for them once your just a half hour into the film. "City of God" is a tough film to watch, but if you look at it from a climatic point of view and see what the future of Rio looks like, you''l be relatively happy and realize that as long as their are people like Rocket trying to make a difference in the world, their will always be a brighter future stored in.