Great Watch but drags in parts! 7/10

Rating: 7/10 (9 February 2016)

Review: I must admit, I did think that this movie was going to be much better than it was. I loved the scenes at the end, when Del Toro became a one man army on a mission but the rest of the movie was slightly boring. Emily Blunt plays an FBI Agent, Kate Macer, who finds dozens of bodies hidden in the walls of a house in Arizona, along with her partner Reggie Wayne (Daniel Kaluuya). The crime investigating team come across a shed in the backyard, which turns out to be a bomb and detonates, killing 2 officers. Her boss, Dave Jennings (Victor Barber) recommends her to a CIA undercover officer, Matt Graver (Josh Brolin), who guarantees that she can get revenge the death of the 2 officers, so she volunteers to join there elite team. They then leave for El Paso in there private jet, we're Kate meets Alejandro Gillick (Benicio Del Toro) for the first time. When they get to Juarez, they extradite one of Diaz's top men, his brother Guillermo but when they try and cross the border, they sight a group of hit men in a traffic jam, so the elite force kill them on the spot. When they get Guillermo back to base, they torture and interrogate him and he eventually tells them about a tunnel that Diaz uses to ferry drugs into the US. They then return to Arizona and question a group of Mexican migrants who give them some more information about the tunnel. Meanwhile, Reggie and Kate are fed up with being kept in the dark about everything, so Matt tells them that their goal is to cause a disruption in Diaz's drug operations so he will be called back to Mexico to meet his boss, drug lord Fausto Alarcon (Julio Cedillo). After freezing Diaz's account, Kate tries to build a case against Diaz involving his money transactions but Matt isn't interested in using that route to catch Diaz. She then tries to go to her boss with the evidence but Jennings tells her that they outrank him and if she goes against them, there could be legal repercussions. After a night drinking in a bar, Kate goes home with Reggies friend, Ted (Jon Bertha) and she realises that he has a wristband which is used to bundle Diaz's laundered money. When Ted realises that she knows who he is, she puts up a struggle and tries to shoot him but he knocks the gun away and starts to strangle her. She is then saved by Alejandro, whose was close by, watching her because she exposed herself at the bank. Matt and Alejandro then torture Ted and threaten his friends and family which leads to them getting the names of corrupt cops who are working for Diaz. The next morning, Kate and Reggie realise that they are being used by the elite force, purely to give the CIA the legal ability to operate within US borders. Reggie doesn't want to go any further with the investigation but Kate wants to see the whole thing to the end. After finally getting through the tunnel, Alejandro sneaks through the Mexican side and he kidnaps one of Diaz's mules, whose a corrupt Mexican police officer. Kate follows Alejandro and attempts to arrest him but he shoots her in her bulletproof vest and tells her to return to the US. Matt then tells Kate that Alejandro is only working with them to avenge his murdered wife and daughter. Alejandro then uses the corrupt police officer to catch Diaz and then he kills him and wounds Diaz. Diaz then drives Alejandro to his bosses estate and then he kills Diaz and fights off Alarcon's henchmen. Alarcon is calmly eating dinner with his wife and children and he tells Alejandro that what happened to his family wasn't personal. After killing his family in front of him, he looks Alarcon in the eyes and he shoots him with no remorse. The following day, Alejandro goes to Kate's house and makes her to sign a waiver, by gunpoint, stating that everything that they done was by the book. Kate then attempts to shoot him from her balcony but she ends up letting him walk away. Del Toro is definitely the best character in this movie and his calm demeanour, even though his family was brutally murdered, was great. The only problem that I found with the film is that it takes some time to get going and you don't know what really is going on until the end, so you are kept in suspense through most of the film. Emily Blunt just wants to expose everything before she actually knows what's going on but I did like Josh Brolins character, who used brutal tactics to get the job done. Anyway, I personally enjoyed the movie, mainly because of the ending and I can't wait to see how Del Toro's character will progress in the sequel. Enjoyable!
Round-Up: This movie was directed by Denis Villeneuve, 48, who brought you Prisoners in 2013, with Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal and Enemy which also starred Jake Gyllenhaal. He's rumoured to be directing the next Blade Runner, along with Story of Your Life starring Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner and Forest Whitaker so he's obviously gained some respect, due to the success of this movie. I liked the way that he showed the different points of view in this movie, like the corrupt cop with his family and there is a sense of authenticity which made it feel real. I just hope they don't mess up the sequel, if they ever do release one!
Budget: $30million Worldwide Gross: $80.5million
I recommend this movie to people who are into their action/crime/dramas starring Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, Benicio Del Toro, Jon Bernthal, Victor Garber, Daniel Kaluuya and Jeffrey Donovan. 7/10