So-so-cario

Rating: 5/10 (19 October 2015)

I saw this movie the other night so I'm writing this while it's still fresh in the mind.
If I'm being honest I did find Sicario impressive in its scope and detail; Roger Deakins' cinematography being highlighted in all the other reviews. It's certainly a plus, and adds to the impending sense of dread and tension that are ever present throughout, but when looking back on it now you can see none of this really amounts to much.
Emily Blunt's Kate Macer joins a group of operatives in searching for those responsible for a number of bombs and hideaways that have been located. Sure enough she finds the team aren't playing by the book. Seeming as she's been done over by her employers you can understand her inevitable resentment, especially when pitched against her occasionally uncompromising and unorthodox team, although her character almost resigns to being a caricature in certain moments, especially when in the final scenes she gets on her high horse over her superiors about what she sees as an unacceptable change in the mission objective (which is all for good really).
Indeed, Blunt's sturdy performance is undermined by her characters' clichés. She's supposed to be a professional and tactful FBI agent, so as she constantly wallows in her loathing and disgust against the system (which reaches its' apex in her final scene), it comes across as self indulgent rather than sad, probably because those clichés are portrayed as deadly serious and 'realistic', something the film tries very much to be, and heavily exert on the audience. It becomes increasingly irritating. Equally as frustrating is how a woman with her skill set can't successfully defend herself against a corrupt cop she fights with in a rather intense struggle.
There's solid supporting turns by Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro, the latter of which especially excelling in a role which barely gives anything away until the reveal in the climax; his world-weary tired expressions hiding a tortured and complicated persona. He has some of the most stand-out scenes in the film, especially in the aforementioned climax where he really comes into his own.
Breaking Bad brilliantly portrayed the whole cartel network as a dark and subversive world which has wormed its' way into normal society. It was both harrowing and thrilling to watch, not least because it was mixed into a solid story of an everyday man interacting with this world, which had lasting consequences for either side, but because it developed basically; constantly growing ever deeper and darker and complex, while never losing its true focus.
I can't say the same about this though. For all its' worth in how its' framed and constructed, you can't help asking yourself why did they bother making this film. Sicario is essentially a series of expertly staged but one-dimensional set pieces before moving along neatly to the end showdown, which incidentally barely involves the disillusioned Macer. It's a simplistic film disguised as a clever and intricate work of art.
This isn't all to say it's a terrible film, because it's not. It's engrossing and intriguing in equal measure, in certain parts of the film that is, notably the opening and ending. The landscape is portrayed as haunting and unforgiving, and is essentially the main star of the piece, because it lends itself to the whole aesthetic of the movie. You simply don't know what's going to happen next; it's one of those movies, and yes, first time viewing there is a couple of rather distressing scenes. Once seen though, and when you realise it's just a basic serious drama, you may find it hard to have the patience to then sit through again what has become a slow and rather pretentious piece of cinema, especially when considering this story has been told before, and much, much, better, on the small screen. Forgettable.