Sicario

Rating: 6/10 (22 October 2015)

I saw the poster for this film on the side of bus, the three leading cast members certainly appealed to me, and the title that I did not understand the meaning of, I saw it was getting great reviews, so I went to see it, directed by Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners). Basically idealistic FBI Special Weapons and Tactics Teams agent Kate Macer (Emily Blunt) and her partner Reggie Wayne (Daniel Kaluuya) survive an explosion in Chandler, Arizona, following the discovery of dozens of corpses within the walls of a house. Kate's boss Dave Jennings (Titanic's Victor Garber) recommends her to undercover CIA Special Activities Division officer Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) who enlists her to aid in finding those responsible for the bomb that killed two officers. Kate is partnered with enigmatic consultant Alejandro (BAFTA nominated Benicio Del Toro), who has a questionable past, she thought they were travelling to El Paso, Texas, in fact they arrive in Juárez, Mexico, and the mission is to crack down on the escalating drugs war, and specifically to capture or kill cartel boss Manuel Díaz (Bernardo P. Saracino). At one point the transportation vehicles the officers are travelling in are caught in traffic, this is in fact some some of prior gathering of cartel members, Kate is appalled by the attack on these criminals, with no regard for the safety of civilians in their vehicles. Matt and his team are interested in finding Díaz's boss, drug lord Fausto Alarcón (Julio Cedillo), they target money launderers, Kate is ignored for believing she could be close to making an arrest on Díaz, and the situation gets worse when she recognises local cop Ted (Jon Bernthal) is wearing the same rubber wristband as a money launderer, he is one of many cops, that he names in interrogation, working for Díaz. On a night that Matt and his team plan to follow Díaz, using distraction, Mexican police officer Silvio (Maximiliano Hernández) is kidnapped by Alejandro, suspecting something Kate goes against orders and follows Alejandro, escaping his attempt to kill her she demands answers from Matt, he says that their goal is to restore power to the Colombian Medellín Cartel, this is apparently the best hope for the U.S. Alejandro and Silvio manage to catch up with Díaz, Silvio is killed by Alejandro and he kills Díaz at Alarcón's estate, it was Alarcón that brutally killed his wife and daughter, Alejandro kills the drug lord's wife and two sons so he can experience the same loss he did, before he finally kills him. Alejandro returns and Kate is ashamed and dishonoured by his actions, she refuses to sign a waiver stating that everything they did was "by the book", but she does so when her own gun is put to her head, Kate initially then points the gun at Alejandro, but she stops herself, lowers her gun and allows him to walk away. Also starring Daniel Kaluuya as Reggie Wayne, Jeffrey Donovan as Steve Forsing, Raoul Trujillo as Rafael and Lora Martinez-Cunningham as Jacinta. To be completely, despite great performances by always reliable Blunt, the interesting Del Toro and decent Brolin, I found this film a bit complicated most of the time, I don't know if it was too political, or I was just generally confused. I understood the main character being caught in situations she did not expect, and the title "sicario" means "hitman" in Spanish, but I could only just follow the action, I was however gripped by the gun-filled and explosive moments, overall I can't fully agree with five stars out of five that critics give it, but I did like it, it's a worthwhile crime thriller. It was nominated the Oscars for Best Cinematography, Best Music for Jóhann Jóhannsson and Best Sound Editing, and it was nominated the BAFTAs for Best Cinematography and Best Original Music. Good, in my opinion!