Mais Forte que o Mundo: A História de José Aldo

Some movies keep their big reveals for the end of the movie. You do have a main character with psychological issues here and they are not hiding it. Fighting demons (not literally, although sometimes it may seem so on screen) is one thing, translating that drama onto screen another. It really is tough, especially when you consider the struggle the main character has to go through.

And the fact the viewer has to stay with him. It's not easy to like him all the time, but you understand where he is coming from. The neighborhood, the friends, the family, all that background gets covered. The movie does a really good job and the fight scenes are gritty and tough enough. It really is a movie that has quality and cares about its very broken protagonist ... do you care too?

In addition to the overcoming saga, the feature of the feature is the marriage between the filmmaker's style and the practice of MMA, which yields dynamic scenes, aligned to the adrenaline of the sport. In the script, it's a good way to focus on the protagonist's problematic relationship with his father...

I liked the criticism of Preview

Movie seen on January 18, 2020

Good to see Afonso doing what he does best. It seemed as if he lost his touch after the whole "Solace" fiasco.

This is a solid 8.4 to be exact. It's an interesting story, an interesting protagonist and captivating directing. There's a whole "tyler durdeen" thing going on that if you compare to fincher's original, well, there's no comparison. But it by itself works really well. The whole disturbed father figure works well - I know it's a true story, so I guess what I mean is that the *bold horrible fact */bold is well portrayed in the movie.

Cudos to the inconspicuous netshoes product placement. Don't worry. Lesser minds won't even know it happened. TNT, almost didn't see you at all.

This film seems a mix of a soap opera and B cheesy action film with an excess of unnecessary slow motion. The music score combines trailer soundtrack with good well known songs completely out of place. Nothing convinces, nothing impacts, nothing seems real. Dialogues are awful and there are many embarrassing failed attempts to make spectator laugh on bad gags. You can expect seeing all known clichés put together, and certainly not in a clever way.

This film has apparently gotten lost in the sea of endless fight/dramas being churned out by the dozen. Most of them are brainless, soulless, low budget flicks with poor acting and low production values. "Mais Forte que o Mundo" is an entirely different animal. This movie is a towering achievement among boxing films, the "Rocky" series included. It starts out deceptively simple, with a scenario of a group of barrio friends stealing a pizza and playing silly pranks on the locals. 10 minutes into it and the movie changes direction, like a left hook coming out of the shadows. This is an in depth study of World champ Jose Aldo's life, tracing it from his youth all the way to his winning victory and accepting of the golden belt. Like most males, most of what Aldo becomes has everything to do with his father, and their difficult relationship is at the core of this story. And rarely has a father/son struggle been documented so powerfully on screen. We also meet Aldo's "demon," an adversary that might not even exist, except in the mind of a man desperate to escape poverty, to save his mother from a horrible existence, and most of all, to prove his worth to his father. What really impresses about this film is it's frenetic energy. In a lot of ways it is reminiscent of "Rocky III" in style and passionate energy. It succeeds in welling up a storm of emotions, from joy to tears, and this viewer found himself with teary eyes on a couple of occasions. Much of the feeling comes from the all around fine acting from the entire cast. Jose Loreto turns in a staggeringly believable performance as Aldo. Who is this guy? He's a real force of nature. Originally a mini series produced for Brazilian tv, this doesn't seem to be well-known outside of it's native land, which is a great shame. As a fan of boxing films like "Rocky" and "Gladiator," I can say that "Mais Forte" is among the absolute best of them all. Filmed on location throughout Brazil, and North America, with a large cast and some BIG fight scenes, this one certainly wasn't lacking a budget. Sadly unavailable in North America, I bought the dvd from a Brazilian mail order site. It's one to re-watch and share with friends..it's that good.