Tense gang wars and youths trying to escape their poverty and fate in the bustling streets of Rio de Janeiro made for a mind-blowing experience in City of God; in the sequel City of Men, the location is still absorbing, but the story often wanders into the realm of generic action flicks. Well-made and excellently acted, City of Men just had way too much to live up to after the first of the series received four Academy Award nominations; and perhaps intimidated by that, this film ends up as a lackluster and lengthy melodrama.

Dead End Hill is carefully guarded by Midnight and his gang of gun-toting thugs who carefully guard a patch of building-tops and never leave it for fear of it being attacked. Fasto, an ambitious gang member, abandons Midnight when he gives too many orders, and decides to round up an opposing faction to overtake Dead End Hill.

Meanwhile, Ace and Wallace go searching for Wallace’s father, in honor of his 18th birthday and in the hopes that it will fill an empty spot in his life. Ace must deal with his semi-successful wife who plans to leave to earn money in a neighboring city, and take care of his young son, which is a responsibility he feels he is too young for. As the two best friends hunt for the unknown father, they are unwittingly caught up in opposite sides of the gang war that ravishes the families and homes in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro.

The most appealing aspect of City of Men is that you don’t have to have watched City of God in order to understand what is happening, although most of the characters are continuations of roles developed in the TV show. Through casual flashbacks and character interactions, the foreign setting and culture is explained and demonstrated. While the backstories of the lead characters from the television series is most helpful, each of the protagonists receive adequate character development to flesh out who they are and why they do what they do. Sadly, this time around, their plights are not as pressing and the chaotic gang war not as inspired. In the background are the recurring themes of children mixing with violence, drugs and guns, and the lack of government aid, public schools, worthwhile jobs and most of all role models – all of course leading to crime and the quandaries faced by Ace and Wallace.

The most annoying thing about the film has nothing to do with its filming at all. The white subtitles playing at the bottom of the screen are completely washed out during numerous shots of broad daylight during the last half of the film, which severely inconveniences those who like to actually read the words. Being dependent on subtitles has never helped a film’s exposure, and this nuisance certainly won’t change that pitfall.

City of Men is not a bad film – but it doesn’t bring anything more to the cinematic table than was served up by the masterly City of God. Watching this film merely provokes the appetite for re-watching the original, which is unfortunately too common with most sequels. City of God was a rare gem of a film that garnered plenty of attention chiefly after the Oscars favored its uniqueness. City of Men will almost certainly receive as little theatrical attention as its predecessor and even less Academy love.

- Mike Massie