Tuesday saw Box Office finally getting a look at the Brazilian film that is advertising itself as a follow up to City of God.

The movie has already been screened a number of times at the festival, and so was getting a screening at the well-out-of-the-way Genesis Cinema, which clearly hadn't seen much festival traffic when the press desk charmingly asked me if I was from The Times. “I think it's The Times London Film Festival. I'm from Box Office Magazine.” (No explanation needed unlike, possibly, if I were to say Boxoffice.com.)

The film itself was a severe disappointment, not to mention an extraordinarily mercenary cash-in on the legacy of City of God. The 'from the makers of' tag, comes on the back of a single producer from the original, who directs the follow-up, and the similarity of the title is obviously intended to connect the films in the mind of the international market.

The trouble is that the comparison leaves Men coming off considerably worse for wear. The pace and life generated by the superb editing of God are entirely absent here and Men feels pedestrian by comparison. Similarly, whilst the story of God followed a sprawling network of interconnected lives, weaved into a narrative, the story of Men is simply a rather trite melodrama, albeit one set around a gang war in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro.

The print showing in London also used English subtitles written in yellow largely set against white backgrounds, which frustratingly made the dialogue indecipherable for a good portion of the film.

Elsewhere in the festival, was Nick Broomfield's packed out docu-drama The Battle for Haditha, analysing what has been described as Iraq's My Lai, where US marines are accused of massacring Iraqis in retaliation for the death of one of their own. A fitting companion to Redacted? Time will tell.