Surprising? Only if you know nothing about the Drug War

Rating: 6/10 (7 January 2016)

Instead of the gritty realistic film experience it pretends to be, SICARIO is a well shot, wholly unimaginative and thoroughly "Gringo" portrayal of the Drug War in which the US is a major player.
If realism were the goal, consulting journalistic sources like Mexico's PROCESO magazine or the now extinct BLOG DEL NARCO might have generated a more realistic script. Instead of the usual Hollywood fantasy of the 80s and 90s, with overt messages of invading a country in order to spark regime change, the film tries to subtly garner support for illegal black ops in Mexico as a necessary result of "growing up" as the unfortunate neighbor (and not the author) of the drug war. This is further reinforced by Blunt 's character, who reminds Del Toro of his daughter, who died an innocent. Optimistic, procedural Ms. Blunt survives but remains innocent and weepy throughout, the liberal attitude she represents clearly derided for able to cut it in the battle against the "barbaric cartels".
The film's violence, peppered throughout, is the result of competing cartels, and "surgical" US intervention. Gone are the golden years of yore when the CIA coordinated trafficking, money laundering, and guns smuggling from the US to Colombia, Colombia to Mexico, and Mexico to the US in one smooth operation. (If this is news to you, you might want to look into the Kerry Report , published in 1994). Monopolizing the business with support from the US military is the only solution the film proposes, which is a) not a solution; and b) nothing new. Wouldn't a Mexican Noriega be nice
Finally, with sparse dialogue— in poorly spoken Spanish no less— it seems that in spite of budget, actual Mexican actors and consultants were in short supply.
Anyone actually looking to understand the narco issue should consider watching EL INFIERNO (2010).