Cinematic excellence with unexpected depth.

Rating: 9/10 (18 October 2015)

As far as cinematography, sound, acting, production and direction go, this film achieves superior marks in all categories. Character development is not intense or deep, nor does it have to be. The actors do a superb job of portraying the personalities and characteristics required to be in the positions they fill. Del Toro is a standout as an amoral killer with vestigial remnants of emotion that do not, however, sway him from his cold efficiency in executing his chosen tasks.
Depth does not require complication. Sicario succeeds sublimely by providing a very simple illustration of several apparently paradoxical premises; the total futility of attempting to successfully fight evil (the drug cartels) within the boundaries of civilized western laws; the relative powerlessness of the morally upright idealist who would rebel against potentially effective but illegal methods (CIA and DOD black-ops) to achieve those ends; the moral paradox of supposed 'good guys' using methods no better - or even worse - than those used by their opponent.
Some reviewers seem to be disappointed in this film's lack of a satisfactory 'conclusion'. It appears to me though that the bleak and unsatisfying ending is exactly what the director desired to portray. How else could such a set of circumstances end? The clean-cut good guys could never win out in such a dirty reality. Does that make them pointless and futile? No, but I see the director using them to illustrate the difficulty for all of us in reconciling so much that is right with what could be seen as expeditious or even necessary. The trailing off of story is also illustrative; wars such as this will go on indefinitely, descending further and further into violent amorality.
I rate this as a superior quality film that is presented almost as parable. Recommended for any intelligent viewer seeking more than a run-of-the-mill action flick.