This is by no means a perfect movie but I still found it very entertaining as it explored a culture I don't know much about, namely the Mexican gang culture. One of the best strengths of this movie is that it focuses on the main character, Montoya Santana, and makes as much of a character as they can out of him, considering he spent his whole life in prison. The movie really reaches it's best moments when Santana is released from prison and we get to see how his prison life matches up with the real life outside of those cement walls. A lot of things are explored here in some fascinating ways. There are also a lot of moments that pay homage to The Godfather, which in my books is never a bad thing, and I say pay homage because, unlike Tarantino who continually steals visuals - and then get credit for them - this movie doesn't steal but pays full homage to what has come before.
It's really fascinating watching Santana readjust to life outside of prison, considering he spent the good majority of his life behind those walls. Olmos spends a lot time letting scenes actually play out between Santana's character and other characters in the movie. This is a wise and experienced move as he doesn't get bogged down with the violence of the culture behind explored, inside he let's the actors actually act as they help to flesh out how Santana becomes changed from living in the inside compared to living in the outside. Younger directors would become too fascinated with the violence and the gang culture around them to worry about the actually characters in the movie. Even saying this, I still felt there needed to be more exploring of Santana's character. An extra half hour I think would have really helped to show transformation that morphs him from the hard prison gang leader into the man who ultimately rejects everything that made up his life. I don't normally want more time in movies but this is one time I think it would have hugely benefited the story.
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