Great action-thriller

Rating: 8/10 (1 August 2016)

FBI field agent Kate Macer is approached to join a special anti- drugs task force that also involves the Department of Defense and the Department of Justice. She is given very little information about the methods or aims of the task force, except that it is going after senior members of a Mexican drug cartel. She soon realises that their methods are quite unorthodox, even potentially illegal, and the aim may be even more unconventional.
Great action-thriller, directed by Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners, Incendies). Slow-burning intensity with a great deal of intrigue. Not your average cops-and-drug-dealers story in that, like the lead character, the viewer is kept in the dark about much of the objectives of the mission. This keeps you guessing and makes the reveal even more profound in its impact.
Great, realistic action scenes and good special effects.
After showing herself to be a very good action performer in Edge of Tomorrow, Emily Blunt gets another opportunity to further those credentials. Less action for her in this, but enough, and she does well. I can see her being the go-to female action star for a few years to come.
Good support from Josh Brolin, Benicio Del Toro and Daniel Kaluuya.
The end message is a bit unsatisfactory and the target for derision too easy, and those would be the main negatives. Otherwise, a very good movie.