Stream or skip?

We've seen so many IP games on streaming that we've lost track. The ones we find most interesting are sequels to decades-old movies, where we see old characters and meet new ones. But the producers of these sequel series have to figure out how to attract new fans who may not have seen the original film. A new Brazilian series, a sequel to a 2002 film, almost succeeds.

Opening shot: We see a close-up of a knife being sharpened and an aerial shot of a favela in Rio de Janeiro. Then we see a man walking around with a camera in his hand.

The essentials: Wilson Rodrigues (Alexandre Rodrigues) hasn't lived in the City Of God favela for a few years, but he still works there as a photojournalist. The year is 2004 and he's been working on the subject for 20 years, when he was a teenager in the scene. He filmed a gang fight between a group called The Runts and another group of teenage drug dealers in Apartments Corner. A close-up of the bleeding head of a Runts leader, Li'l Zé, was the start of the career of the man everyone in the neighborhood calls “Rocket.”

There is still plenty of crime and numerous gun battles between police, military and gangs in City of God, and Rocket is there to record it all. Plus, his mother and teenage daughter still live in the favela, although his relationship with his daughter is frosty.

Many of the people he grew up with in the favela are still there, including his best friend Barbantinho (Edson Oliveira), who is now on the residents' association and running for a seat on the city council. He is well-liked in the neighborhood and is trying to eliminate much of the violence that still plagues the area. The “good guys” in the favela also include Cinthia (Sabrina Rosa) and her son Delano (Dhonata Augusto). Later, we meet Berenice (Roberta Rodrigues), who has fallen for thugs in the favela too many times and has become a mother to the neighborhood children.

Among the not-so-good people is Reginaldo (Kiko Marques), a corrupt cop nicknamed “Melonhead” in the neighborhood. He somehow didn't make it to the city's Secretary of Public Security and still takes bribes. Then there's Genivaldo Curió (Marcos Palmeira), who took over the drug trade in Apartments Corner when the Runts screwed it up. He's actually well respected in the neighborhood because he's generous and has brought relative stability to the area.

Curió wants Rocket to photograph his daughter's quinceañera, and Rocket reluctantly agrees. He is particularly disturbed by seeing his daughter twerking on stage. However, everyone is surprised when Bradock (Thiago Martins) shows up; he was the leader of The Runts and has become like a son to Curió, but he has just been released from a six-year prison sentence and wants to take over the management of Apartments Corner again. However, Curió has left the corner to his biological son, which upsets both Bradock and his girlfriend Jerusa (Andréia Horta). In fact, Jerusa is perhaps even angrier about the disrespect Bradock is receiving than Bradock; she helped get him out of prison so they could take over the corner without Curió knowing about it.

What shows will it remind you of? City of God: The battle rages on is a sequel to the 2002 film City of Godbased on the novel of the same name by Paulo Lins; the original film was set in 1984.

Our opinion: As with most sequels to decades-old films, the writers of City of God: The battle rages on attempts to give fans of the original film a glimpse into the current activities of the returning characters, while also introducing new characters and making the show accessible to people who never saw the original film. They largely succeed in doing this, but the shuffling of characters can make it difficult for newcomers to figure out who is loyal to whom.

This is a byproduct of the nature of crime in City of God; drug trafficking is a fact of life there and an economic driver. This is why Curió, despite being a crime boss at heart, is highly respected by the residents of the favela and people like Rocket. Yes, Rocket may think Curió is a charmer and a chatterbox, but he also won't say no when Curió asks him to photograph the party he's throwing for his daughter.

Rocket establishes in his narrative who are the good guys and who are the bad guys in the favela, but no one is completely clean. This is true for Rocket too; there's a reason he was there to take the photo of Li'l Zé's corpse that launched his career. When you first get to know these characters, it's hard to really keep track of where everyone stands in the favela's pecking order.

Even Bradock's demands to take over the corner aren't quite as clearly criminal as they might seem, considering he's driven by both Jerusa and his own criminal ambitions. In fact, Jerusa is the only person in the entire group who could be considered completely insane, which is apparently why she's nicknamed “Crazy.”

The show gives newcomers plenty of opportunity to delve into the story, with Rocket's narration and flashbacks to the movie. We're just hoping we get a little more clarity on some of the characters in the next five episodes of the first season.

Sex and skin: Bradock and Jerusa are shown having sex, but Jerusa somehow keeps her bra on.

Farewell shot: After Jerusa puts a bullet in the head of one of Curio's men, Bradock looks on in shock. “Curio wants a war? He has one,” she says.

Sleepy Star: Andréia Horta's Jerusa is, as we discussed above, the wild card of the cast, and Horta does a good job of portraying her barely controlled thirst for power.

Most pilot-y lines: If the stills we see represent Rocket's photos, they are the worst photos we have ever seen from a photojournalist.

Our call: STREAM IT. City of God: The battle rages on is a little confusing for those who haven't seen the original 2002 film, but after the first episode, which introduces us to old and new characters, it has the potential to be an exciting thriller series.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and technology, but he makes no mistake: He is a TV junkie. His articles have appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.comFast Company and elsewhere.