Sicario

Feverishly satisfying with pulse-pounding energy that's sure to give your heart its full day's work, Denis Villenueve's masterful "Sicario" with Emily Blunt, Benicio del Toro, and Josh Brolin is an edge of your seat thriller that exemplifies the finest parts of the action genre. Filled with mystery, suspense, and outstanding performances, Villenueve's direction, along a tight script by Taylor Sheridan, brings a much needed sense of technique and art that's been sorely missing from the 2015 movie year.

"Sicario" tells the story of an idealistic FBI agent names Kate (Blunt), who is enlisted by an elected government task force to aid in the escalating war against drugs at the border area between the U.S. and Mexico. With the "guidance" of a mysterious agent Alejandro (Del Toro) and her superior Matt (Brolin), and influx of intrigue and morals will shake Kate to her very core.

First and foremost, "Sicario" breathes new life into contemporary cinematography, as produced by no less than the great Roger Deakins. A vessel for God's eye on the world, Deakins ignites the fire of his vision, capturing some of the finest shots seen this decade. His use of shadows, CGI, and choices in which to convey and portray emotions is downright genius. Becoming essentially another character in the story, Deakins gives a master's class on cinematography for future craftsmen and women to behold. It's a work that will surely land him his thirteenth Oscar nomination.

Above that, we are treated to fantastic and awards worthy performances. Emily Blunt, as seen in nearly everything she touches, shows herself as one of the most interesting and endearing actresses working today. Her courage and vulnerability for Kate is personified by Blunt's ability to connect with the character's soul. She lays into Kate calmly, echoing great performances like Jessica Chastain in "Zero Dark Thirty" but with more reserve.

Benicio Del Toro is downright magnificent. As Alejandro, he delivers his best performance since "21 Grams." A dedicated sensation that calls back to all types of performances such as Javier Bardem in "No Country for Old Men" or Gene Hackman in "The French Connection." You won't be able to take your eyes off him. Josh Brolin utilizes every ounce of his charm that has made him one of the most sought after actor's in the business. A memorable, though understated and undervalued character that you do want more clarity about. Other cast members like Jon Bernthal, Jeffrey Donovan, Victor Garber, and especially Daniel Kaluuya are given their fair share of opportunity, which all take well.

As a technical endeavor, "Sicario" also succeeds in its vibrantly living sound design, and illustrious score by Academy Award nominee Jóhann Jóhannsson. The two are married in a blistering union of tension and heart palpitations. Editor Joe Walker is a shining star behind the scenes as well, thanks to his precision and patience in bringing a scene right to the edge, and knowing when and where to take it next. It's his most innovative work yet, even surpassing his nominated work on "12 Years a Slave."

Goes without saying that "Sicario" is Denis Villenueve's best work to date. Coming from someone that thoroughly enjoyed "Prisoners" and tolerated "Enemy," this is his most accessible and compelling piece. If anything, he's just so damn exciting to watch these days, as he locates strange vehicles for actor's and craftsmen to come together. He takes on a genre that may feel familiar, like the drug cartel, but makes it feel new and smart.

"Sicario" is hands down one of the year's best films.

One of those select few thrillers that will have your eyes stuck to the screen from the opening credits to the very end, and I mean that literally: I changed my sitting position many times during the film, yet I clearly recall never ever turning my head away from the film, this is how intense it is.

With this Denis Villenueve has now consolidated his name as one of most important and gifted directors of our time and has shown us he is here to stay. I truly marvel at how this film is so tightly put together and even despite it faults, which it has, especially in script, it just never gives you a chance to breathe and take it all in, thanks to the atmosphere that is established from shot one until the last one, you are always anticipating something's going to happen and that is the sign you are watching a great thriller. You are always on the edge of your seat and in some occasions you are really biting your knuckles. The movie has a way to throw you into the action that is really rare to find, especially in a highway sequence where I literally felt I was there.

All of this is achieved thanks to probably the best cinematography of this whole year. Deakins does it again, once more playing with a lot of blacks and shadows and once more succeeding one hundred percent. Also remarkable is the use of helicopter shots which don't feel like connective tissue, but actually part of the organic, that's something really hard to pull off. The sound design of this film is flat out amazing, some of the best I have truly ever had the pleasure to experience. It is so in you face, so tight, it really contributes in making you feel a part of this even in the more intimate scenes. Music too is also excellent and while some may say it was a little too ominous and dark I felt it matched the tone perfectly and enhanced some parts magnificently, contributing to a nail-biting building of tension.

Of course one couldn't get past reviewing this film without nominating the three great performances at its center. Del Toro, Brolin and Blunt are each better than the other and continue stealing the screen to themselves scene after scene. There really isn't one stand out, the three of them just excel sky high and give depth to characters that are interesting. The characters are really what holds the film together, they are truly developed three dimensionally and explored in depths that aren't normally reached.

What makes the film stumble is the fact that in never has a good enough plot to make things as interesting as they should be. It really has a hard time in setting up which way it's going and in the end it actually doesn't end up with a satisfying resolution. You are certainly left with something to think about because of the themes, the characters, the atmosphere and the intensity, but all in all the plot doesn't offer interesting turns and not enough moral questioning, unlike "Prisoners", and so remains slightly one-note for the whole duration. It also has a totally useless character in Blunt's partner, which other than never understanding why he was there or what was his arch in the film, I never understood how he was being played.

Still there is nothing short of amazing in what Villenueve achieves in two hours. What could have been a screenplay turned into a very generic police drama, is actually one of the most atmospheric and tense movies of the year.

Sicario ('Hitman' in Mexican) is well worth your viewing time. The ever- reliable Emily Blunt excels here as FBI agent and hostage specialist Kate Macer. After a gruesome discovery in Phoenix, Kate becomes an idealistic fish-out-of-water in a complex CIA mission, run by Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) against a notorious Mexican drug cartel. Key to the mission is Columbian-born Alejandro (Benicio del Toro): a man with a tragic past that directly guides his future. To tell more would spoil what is a dense and complex storyline that evolves in a most satisfactory manner.

The acting is superb, with Blunt giving a career-best performance (sadly overlooked by the major awards), Josh Brolin being convincing as the war-weathered CIA man and Benicio del Toro delivering his best stone cold killer in gripping style. His Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination is well deserved, albeit for the maintenance of a fairly standard and chilling expression. Finally a name to watch for the future is London-born Daniel Kaluuya as Macer's black FBI colleague frustrated at being sidelined as a 'spare' by the task force.

Equally praiseworthy is the epic cinematography of Roger Deakin ("Skyfall", "No Country for Old Men") which is also Oscar nominated. Remarkable landscapes of the Mexican border are supported by breathtaking helicopter/drone shots of the CIA convoy of black vehicles in one of the tenser moments in the film. Outstanding (for both direction, editing and cinematography) is a scene set in and around a tunnel that is the best satellite/night vision scene since the 'electronic battlefield' in "Patriot Games" in 1992.

The Oscar-nominated music by Jóhann Jóhannsson (so good with "The Theory of Everything") is of the atonal electronic variety, undoubtedly effective in conveying the film's mood but difficult to compare against the more obvious Oscar nominations from the likes of Ennio Morricone and John Williams.

Directed by Denis Villeneuve (who specialises in single named features) this is a tense, intelligent and thought-providing film that does nothing for Mexico's tourist industry but a lot for Trump's presidential campaign!

Often brutal, this is not an easy film to watch. But it is a highly intelligent watch, requiring your full attention throughout, and is deserving of a place among the best films of 2015. Recommended.

(Please visit bob-the-movie-man.com for the graphical version of this review. Thanks).

Sicario was first released back in 2015. I just watched it for the first time last week...and I really have no excuse other than I'm an idiot. I knew I'd like it, I'd heard nothing but amazing things, and five minutes into the movie I completely regretted not watching it sooner. Sicario is, hands down, one of the best action/thrillers of the decade. Director Denis Villeneuve manages to create so much suspense and intensity throughout 120 minutes that at times it's almost unbearable. Needless to say, my fingernails did not survive this movie. The plot itself is fairly basic - the FBI teams up with some shady people to fight a brutal Mexican drug cartel. Emily Blunt plays the young FBI agent recruited into the fight, and for most of the movie the audience is just as confused and suspicious as she is. It delivers plenty of wonderful "what the hell?" moments, as you never really get a sense of anyone's true motivations until the end. The performances are universally terrific and the dialogue is sharp, but the main reason the movie works so masterfully is Villeneuve. With the help of some striking cinematography and a brilliant score, he gives us one of the most surprising, tense, and atmospheric thrillers in the history of the genre. If you've never seen Sicario, please don't make my mistake and see it ASAP.

The badlands of the US - Mexico border and the viciousness of the drug trade running across it sets the background and the tone for this movie. It's grim. Human life is very cheap and the movie doesn't flinch from showing consequences. There are definitely some scenes that are not for the faint hearted, but there is nothing gratuitous here. If anything - despite the subject matter - the film goes out of its way to avoid Hollywood heroics.

Emily Blunt does an amazing job portraying Kate Macy, a career policewoman heading a SWAT team. Her accent slips slightly a couple of times, but otherwise she's utterly believable as born and raised in the deep south of the US. Kate is a fundamentally decent, honorable human being, trying to the right thing in a world where the rule book doesn't seem to work any more. She's smart, tough, and experienced - but right from the start of the movie, it's clear that she's in over her head.

The tension never lets up. An attack could come at any moment, from any direction. Anything could be a trap. All of it, no matter how extreme something is, plays as real. The director manages scenes expertly to avoid any clean and easy action movie clichés, and it pays off enormously as the movie goes on.

It's also a highly intelligent movie, made for an intelligent audience. It doesn't lay things out on a plate. Instead you have to pay attention and you have to think, just as Kate has to - because her first mistake could be her last.

Staging, costuming, sets, cinematography, and lighting are all perfect. Some airborne shots in particular stand out as both daring and stunningly original, clearly showing just how harsh the landscape is, while managing to propel the story forward - without showing anyone, no less. This part of the movie is in the "As good as it gets" category. The only part that I didn't like (and the reason that this doesn't get a 10 from me) was the music. It's used deliberately to heighten tension during some scenes which would otherwise break the feel of the movie, and generally it's done well, but some scenes are spoiled with a There Will Be Blood styled screech. It's really not needed, especially since Sicario's own score manages to build or maintain tension quite successfully in other parts of the movie while remaining low-key.

To my mind, this is much more of a drama than it is a thriller. It's certainly not an action movie. The acting from the support cast is exactly what it needs to be - good in general, and great when a minor character is the focal point - but look closely at how much Benicio del Toro manages to do with no dialogue and not even all that much movement. Simply amazing.

This is a great movie to see if you want to be challenged.