A Dark Poem

Rating: 9/10 (10 October 2015)

Sicario (9/10) - A Dark Poem
Sicario begins on a tense note, a raid on a hostage house goes bad. Soon the tension rises as a FBI agent (Blunt) is brought in as part of an inter agency anti drug team. She now has to work with two Department of Defense 'consultants' - one who talks too much and the other who doesn't. Both manipulate in their own ways. Blunt's character is clueless much like the audience in terms of what is exactly happening but as the tense thriller unfolds and you begin to find out, just like her character you may not like where you are. With each passing moment, the tension rises and stays till the last scene. For some, it may not leave you once you have left the theater.
To me the highlight was the political undertones of the film, is what is happening right? Did what happens in the movie make things better or worse? Questions that only you as an audience can answer depending on which side of the politics you sit on. While you are grappling with the tension and morality questions. The film has already owned you as a technical masterpiece. You are mesmerized by panning aerial camera shots, by an exponentially rising music score, by emotional performances (esp. Benicio Del Toro in a character made for him), by a strong story-line and by one liners which would easily make AFI's top 100 quotes list - 'Don't you ever point a gun at me' The US Mexico cavalcade sequence about transporting a drug witness across the border was by far one of the best I have seen this year.
Remember, Sicario is not an action film. It is a realistic crime thriller. It is dark, disturbing and unfortunately real. Almost like a dark poem. There is No CGI, no cars flying around, no people jumping in mid air shooting guns but the violence when it occurs is brutal enough to make you close your eyes.
I could not help but compare it with Traffic that other classic drug war movie also starring Benicio Del Toro also ending in a shot of children playing a sport (so much for spoilers). I would have to say Traffic was a better film but Sicario would still easily make it to the top 5 films of the year.
My prediction: Sicario is a 100% certified Oscar Winner for 2015. If anything else they would it give it for cinematography (high time Roger Deakins got his due) or even sound editing. I wouldn't be surprised if all three Josh Brolin, Emily Blunt and Del Toro are nominated for their performances. Del Toro may bag his second Oscar (his performance is the best i have seen this year) Too early to say best picture but it would surely get a nomination there.
Catch Sicario on a big screen with a good sound. One Word: Unmissable.