So far for me, the film of the year!

Rating: 10/10 (31 October 2015)

There are some films you just watch from beginning to end, completely enthralled when in the cinema, glued to your seat by a mixture of powerful performances, a gripping story and stand out photography. Sicario is one of those films. I saw this with my partner and they agreed wholeheartedly, this was a stand out movie from start to finish and will be making its way to my Blu-Ray collection as soon as available. Emily Blunt gives a solid performance as the lead, here she plays an idealistic FBI agent who wants to make a difference and is given the chance to do so against the Mexican drug cartels and their hit men, but just how far are you prepared to bend the law before you break it and become like them?
While I cannot claim to be an expect on the Mexican Cartel drug trade or the complexities which must surround American attempts to police and control it I felt like we got pretty close to the truth with it here. No one is quite who they seem and every character has their own agenda to the end. One of the nice things about the film is the minimum use of dialogue. The actors really have room to breathe here in their performances and are well complimented by the haunting photography of Roger Deakins who does a visceral job of bringing the landscape of this world to life, with its brutal soaring heat combined with the darker and more shady tones. There's no weak links in the cast here, the stand out performance is Benicio Del Torro who conveys amazing menace with his character 'This is the land of wolves now'. Josh Brolin proves that his career has now soared above and beyond his own fathers with another assured performance as the Government Agent who is quite happy to use whatever tools he has to in order to achieve his objectives.
While one might find plot holes if you really look I found this drama swept me completely away and was totally engaging. It is the kind of film I love to see on the big screen and gladly pay my money to the studios for. More like this please. A credit to everyone who worked on the film. Superb film making.