Sicario

Review By: John Delia

Turning a brutal crime story into a masterpiece of filmmaking can be quite hard for any filmmaker, but director Denis Villeneuve gets the right cast with an awesome script called Sicario.  Putting his actors to work, he presents a grisly look at the Mexican border where he stages his play that gets very tense and compelling.  I can definitely see a shot at some of the bigger awards come Oscar time, especially the performances by Emily Blunt and Benicio Del Toro.

FBI agent Kate Marcer (Emily Blunt) participates in a drug bust that ends with the death of an agent. Shortly thereafter, she gets contacted by a government task force lead by Matt Garver (Josh Brolin).  He asks her if she would like to go on a drug hit inside the Mexican Border. Leary of the proposal yet wanting to get the recognition for being on the team, she reluctantly accepts.  On the team is Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro), a very suspicious and sadistic looking man who works for Garver. Questioning Garver doesn’t work well and getting a straight answer is almost impossible, but she proceeds with the group into the bowels of the covert operation.

The operation takes some very bad turns that end in overwhelming violence.  Director Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners) micro manages his cast getting them to feel the fear, doubt and anguish of the operation.  His characters are very brutal and Villeneuve gets amazing performances out of everyone from both sides of the war the Feds ignite. His sets, locations and special effects work overtime showing the shabby streets, scary back alleys and gritty meeting places. He moves his film along increasing the pace as the action gets murderous.  Each skirmish is like a firefight in combat with bullets whizzing and explosions all around.

The acting is magnificent with Emily Blunt taking on a role like you have never seen her before.  Even though you may have witnessed how tough she can be in films like Looper and Edge of Tomorrow, here she one-ups herself taking it beyond those performances. She shows Kate’s emotions going from excitement to fear and then ending in loathing as she continues the journey into the unknown.  She’s definitely a target for a possible Oscar and I would love to see her pick one up at next year’s awards.

Playing a tough killer as no one else can Benicio Del Toro makes the film dark and dangerous as he hunts for an unknown prey.  He’s what the title of the film represents, a hit man of the vicious kind. Playing along with Garver and getting him what he wants in the war on drugs is his way of getting to the one man who he hates the most.  His character Alejandro is pushy, devious and desperate and will not hesitate to kill you if you are in his way of getting to his goal.  The performance here is as good as, no better than the character Javier he created in Traffic and Lado in Savages combined.  If he doesn’t get a nomination by the Academy of Arts and Sciences for this role, I will be surprised.

Sicario has been rated R by the MPAA for strong violence, grisly images and language.  The intense gut wrenching film may not be for everyone especially the modest and immature.

FINAL ANALYSIS: The best thriller to hit the screen this year bar none. (A)