disappointing and lacking Michael Mann style authenticity

Rating: 6/10 (7 January 2017)

i had very high hopes for this movie, with the general buzz surrounding director Denis Villeneuve, who also directed Arrival (which I thought was OK and not great) and who is now directing Blade Runner 2 which I no longer have high hopes for after seeing this..
the movie lacks basic authenticity and this gets worse as the story progresses, culminating with the ending.. we are expected to believe that a Mexican drug boss one down from the top of the food chain will drive alone at night through the desert, and that the big boss himself has 4 bodyguards
the way that the central female character becomes a snivelling girl and pawn at the end, is also highly disappointing, and more than a bit patronising
technically i thought the night vision camera scenes looked and sounded really cheap, and the sound mix is all over the map throughout the movie, I haven't had to ride the volume button so much in quite a while
Michael Mann is the master of authenticity when it comes to this type of movie, he gets details right, and he makes Villeneuve look extremely amateur