My thoughts on the newest Villenueve flick

Rating: 8/10 (22 June 2016)

There isn't much hope, or anything to really cling to in this movie. The gritty story is told in a gritty manner, and the environment this movie surrounds you with is very filthy. That's not to say that the camera-work or color palette makes this movie look bland because the cinematography in this movie was top notch. In fact, Roger Deakins very stylistically shot this movie, to showcase the brutality and to be more interesting to watch at the same time, so it doesn't feel like senseless violence. Another thing I enjoyed about this movie is that it keeps you on edge for the majority of the run time. The music by Jóhann Jóhannsson was very odd and eerie and was used sparingly. The music was mainly used as a tool for giving a sense of anxiety. The great music, combined with beautiful/odd shots of random objects, and closeups of seemingly random objects actually builds a lot of suspense. The way this film does it is incredible, with these oddly eerie scenes that give you a sense that something bad is going to happen soon. These riveting scenes have dramatic slow build, and there were points when I, unaware of it at the time, got a huge knot in my stomach. Even if there isn't that much happening to advance the plot in these scenes, it is still wildly entertaining. There is a great scene in an airplane where for some reason, I felt on edge with the eerie music and weird close-ups of objects with extreme attention to detail. I'm thinking that Denis Villeneuve decided to build suspense and anxiety in these random scenes to delve into the subconscious of all these professional agents who have seen their fair share of disturbing things. Using these scenes to emphasize the vibe of the anxiety in these characters was a genius editing choice.
Where this movie starts to weaken is its screenplay. The story and premise for this movie could have had so much more done with it. There were great performances all around, though these actors did not have much to work with. I mean, sure, there were moments where the characters acted really sad and angry when they needed to, but there was nothing to really define these different characters. Besides the fact that the only thing that I could really differentiate these characters from was their opinions on some situation on hand, these actors did a phenomenal job with what little direction they most likely had, with essentially no character arcs. There were a few character dilemmas that were done well, but there was nothing interesting or unique to make any of the characters feel all that special. There was not much dialogue to give us more information about these characters. Another thing revealed much later on in the movie, but still slightly unclear, is the main characters and all of their different motivations for the large, elaborate drug bust they are trying to execute. That only comes much later, and it is still unclear what Kate's motivation is. Nothing else besides that really gives anybody a unique or special personality. I was surprised to see that by the end of the movie that Benicio del Toro was becoming the star of the movie, rather than Emily Blunt. I was fine with that since I know that a spin-off is being made for del Toro's character later, but I was annoyed with the fact that the del Toro's character, Alejandro, got more of a resolution than Kate Macer. Since the majority of the movie led me to believe that she was the main character, I was a little weirded out to see her weaven out of the majority of the last 20 minutes of the movie, and then a very brief scene at the very end with her. This felt really sudden, and the studio was very obviously rushing to get the last act packed with screen time for Benicio Del Toro, to set up the spin-off. The ending was sad and left a bitter taste, but was fitting for the general overtone of the film.
In the end, this movie was put together very smartly. The characters were only mediocre, as well as parts of the script during the final act of the movie. Sometimes Emily Blunt's character motivation made little sense, and a lot of times there were missed opportunities that I felt could have been good places to insert some dialogue to let us learn at least a little bit about these characters. I have a feeling that the script was used more of a guideline than an actual script. This movie is worth a watch, even if it starts very strong and almost dies with a faint whimper in the concluding scenes.
+ Good acting all around - Messy script + Interesting premise + Good suspense building, good use of music + Insane camera-work 7.9/10