Sicario Movie Review

Sicario (2015)

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Written by: Taylor Sheridan
Directed by: Denis Villeneuve
Starring: Emily Blunt , Josh Brolin , Benicio Del Toro
Rated: R
Watch the trailer

Plot:
FBI agent Kate Macer (Emily Blunt) is recruited by a government agency to help capture a drug kingpin.

Verdict:
Sicario offers a standard story that is elevated with excellent direction. Villeneuve makes simple moments really intense. This easily could have been a run of the mill action movie, but Emily Blunt gives us a strong, yet vulnerable character. We, like her, have no idea if the operation is sanctioned. The war on drugs isn't to topple the empire, but merely to try and control it. The violence will continue and the game will play on.  
Watch it. 

Review:
I like Villeneuve's movies. Prisoners was a solid thriller, and Enemy was a mind trip, but I wasn't sure if the Sheriff from Sons of Anarchy could write a compelling script. Emily Blunt has established herself as action movie competent after The Day After Tomorrow, and Del Toro usually provides a solid performance.

The first scenes grab you. The drum beat score is mesmerizing and returns throughout the movie, kicking up the tension one more notch. The FBI raids a house looking for hostages, and they discover bodies hidden throughout the walls. The scene is accentuated with an explosion.

If you're expecting to see Emily Blunt's character from The Day After Tomorrow, you will be disappointed, but Kate Macer has a lot more depth. She is tough, but also vulnerable, completely over her head and mixed up in what she hopes is a government operation. Neither Macer nor the viewer has any idea what's going on. Macer questions if the task force is sanctioned as they travel to Mexico to retrieve a contact. Successfully retrieving the contact, the convoy is stuck when trying to cross back in to the United States. The field team is nervous, weapons drawn, waiting for something or someone. The team clocks two cars that are suspects but are told not to engage first. The scene is intense. This task force is operating outside of the law as they endangered civilians and opened fire at suspects in line at the border. Macer's concerns are dismissed.

Sicario - Great direction elevates an average story.

The police force can't stop a criminal organization that operates outside of the law. This task force moves the boundary to regain order and control. Macer's by the book approach is shown to be ineffective, while this new team she has joined borders on reckless.

Villeneuve has proven masterful at creating suspense, employing thermal cameras for a first person viewpoint as the field team enters a smuggling tunnel.  The objective is disruption in an effort to flush out the the crime lord in control. We, just like Blunt's character go down the rabbit hole unsure of what we will discover. What Blunt's character Macer finds is that Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro) is not just a Department of Defense consultant, he's connected to the Columbian drug cartel.
Del Toro is cold, brooding, and ruthless as he topples the drug lord, shooting Macer in her bullet proof vest along the way

The pacing is excellent. The entire movie feels like it's building to something. While the end of the movie is underwhelming, it perfectly echoes how Macer feels. She thought she was brought on this team to make a difference, but she was a pawn in this game. The CIA needed an FBI agent to legally operate within U.S. borders. Villenuve knew exactly what he wanted to do. Despite the drug lord being toppled, we like Macer are left disappointed. The story is typical, but the execution is excellent.

Throughout the movie we see scenes of a Mexican cop, which felt out of place. It felt out of place, though it did have a point when Del Toro kidnaps that very cop. At first I wondered if it was just to generate an impact later, and in part maybe it was, but it also shows both sides of it. Macer is dismayed at operating outside of the law, but the Mexican cop doesn't even have a choice. Del Toro forces Blunt's character to sign a waiver that the operation was by the books and then tells her to leave town for safety.
One drug kingpin was toppled so another could take his place. The drugs won't stop. In the last scene as kids are playing soccer in Juarez, gunfire breaks out in the distance and the game plays on.