Sicario (2015)
Action, Crime, Drama
Directed By: Denis Villeneuve
If you are at all connected with the current events of this continent than you know we are more or less at war with the Mexican drug cartels. It is a real terror that exists beyond anything we could possibly imagine as the body count grows each and every day. The news channels ignore it and the American people try to hide it like their alcoholic uncle, but Hollywood will gladly throw it right back in our faces, so kudos to them for that. The latest of these films comes from Denis Villenueve (Prisoners) who focuses in on the current state of the war at the border to deliver one of the most intense movies of 2015. Although this is a fictional story it captures what is currently going in the southern region of this country better than almost any other film to come before it.
After making a large cartel bust in Arizona a rising FBI agent (Emily Blunt) is asked to join a government task force who has plans to make a move on key players in the Mexican drug cartels. After seeing the horrific remains of their work in her latest raid she signs on to the mission in a heartbeat. She quickly realizes the people she has just agreed to work with tell more lies than truth and when she is paired up with a mysterious man named Alejandro (Benicio del Toro) she begins to question the legitimacy and legality of what they are doing. She must face what is in front of her and decide if the results of what they are doing is worth the cost, or if they are just adding more fire to this constant blaze at the border.
What separates Sicario from the many other films of its nature is that it does not primarily focus on what the cartel is doing, it actually focuses on our side of the fight instead. It is easy to shock audiences with the gruesome and horrific actions of these criminal groups- show a few decapitated heads and a few bloody carcaces and the crowd is "shocked"- but it takes something more to get all of that across while showing the supposed "good guys". This movie is making sure each and everyone of us know that this fight isn't just about the cartels and the drugs, there are more layers to this war than we could ever comprehend and Denis Villenueve makes that crystal clear within these frames.
As with any truly great film the acting put on display here is one hundred percent A-list. Emily Blunt further proves that she is the most badass actress in the business right now and deserves all the action roles going forward. Josh Brolin once again proves he is the perfect government lackey with his smug demeanor and dry with, but it is Benicio del Toro who stands out the most. His role and the cryptic Alejandro takes the entire movie to another level, his performance in the last half hour alone is some of, if not the best acting I have seen from a movie in all of 2015. If anything, see this movie just for him and the masterful works he does.
Sicario isn't the first, and definitely won't be the last movie we will see on this subject matter but it is without a doubt one of the best we have seen so far. Villenueve has proven over the past few years with Prisoners, Enemy, and now this, that he is a master of the craft and makes films that are completely unique to his own style. At this point is is safe to say whatever he does next I will have a ticket for opening weekend as his work has become must-see entertainment. If you missed this one in theaters like I regrettably did you can check it out now on VOD or BluRay/DVD now, I highly suggest you go check that out.
As always, thanks for reading and I am Zach Who Watches Movies. You can find me anytime on twitter @ZachWWMovies, smell ya later!
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