A bleak, yet rather grim and true view on the War on Drugs

Rating: 9/10 (5 October 2015)

Sicario, the third Denis Villeneuve feature film after the highly successful Prisoners and Enemy from 2013 and 2014 respectively. The movie stars Emily Blunt (Edge of Tomorrow), Josh Brolin (Everest and No Country for Old Men), and Benicio Del Toro (Escobar: Paradise Lost and Traffic) in a drug-fuelled action movie set along the US- Mexico Border.
The movie is a clichÃ© storyline with characters that have been seen before. But the way that the characters are played is what makes this movie stand out. It should be noted that the posters may show that the movie might be about Emily Blunt's character Kate, but the crucial performance is the performance by Del Toro in his portrayal of Alejandro. This is a performance that hasn't been seen from Del Toro in quite a while. I would have to say that a Best Actor Nomination should easily be coming towards Del Toro's way. An honorable mention to Josh Brolin, portraying the team leader Matt. His character brought comic relief to a movie that was disturbingly serious.
Now the movie itself. The first thing to note is the cinematography. The movie is beautifully shot, which is not a surprise with Director of Photography Roger Deakins (No Country for Old Men and Skyfall) at the helm. The panning birds eye view shots of Ciudad Juarez along with street side shots showed the bleak circumstances that the people in Juarez were living in.
The defining message from the film is the bleakness of the War on drugs in the Southern US. It shows how agencies have to "work together" just to have a shot at a cartel leader and even getting rid of a single cartel leader just means that another leader has already propped up and ends up being a never ending circle of massacre.
It's not the story that contributes to the high mark it will get, it's the characters in the movie who you connect to immediately, with audiences most likely to latch onto Alejandro's story after his background is revealed. Sicario may not get a Best Picture nomination but might have at least 1 nomination for Best Actor. Sicario gets an A grade.