REVIEW : Sicario (2015)

Sicario hits you from the get-go: fast-paced, tensed and thrilling. It's one of those films where you're constantly made to think that the stakes are unbelievably high, and that every life, good or bad, has value and means something. You'd find yourself flinching at every death on screen.

The female lead in this film, FBI agent Kate Macer (Emily Blunt) serves as the audience's substitute as we mostly see the world in her point of view. After a raid, she is recruited into a team that's aimed to bring the man behind the chaos to justice. Or at least, whatever justice is in that grey area.

Both the audience and Kate are never quite in the know of what's happening, everything's very much hush-hush. Joining her are Matt Graver (Josh Brolin), who claims he is part of the DoD but Kate suspects otherwise, and there's Alejandro (Benicio del Toro), who is even more mysterious and enigmatic.

Later, as Kate will soon discover, basically everything for her will be going to shit.

Kate : Really doesn't know what she's signing up for.

Directed by Denis Villeneuve who is known for his dark films such as Polytechinue and Prisoners, Sicario is a no-frills film that almost plays out like a quasi-documentary. It exposes the horrors in the American War on Drugs, and the not-quite legal measures in covert operations that are taken to win this war. The script, written by newcomer Taylor Sheridan , is sharp and concise. But props really must be given to the cinematographer, Roger Deakins. There are multiple aerial shots of the barren deserts that can only be described as breathtaking. The most impressive scene from the entire film was of the four black SUVs, travelling in a single file as the weave through Mexican traffic. What happens next is really the most nail-biting segment in the entire film.

Alejandro ; Man of few words with a mysterious past. Every time he appears, he commands the screen.

There's a saying in Chinese: flowers can only be beautiful to the eyes with green foliage in the background as support; that's what you can say about composer Johann Johannsson's score. It's in the background, and you never really do pay attention to it, there's nothing much that stands out. But if not for the score, Sicario would have been lacking; with it, the movie transforms into what it is, a thriller that's constantly keeping you at the edge of your seats.

I smell multiple awards in the works.

Matt ; General jackass overall. Effective, gets the job done, but still a jackass.

Other trivial musings : I honestly think that they did a perfect job in casting the doe-eyed Emily Blunt, who pulls off Kate Macer's high-strung, but constantly confused look perfectly.

 TL;DR : We see how the War on Drugs is fought, and we see how sometimes, desperate times call for desperate measures. 

I rate it : 9/10 stars

Should you watch it? Yes, but be warned that Sicario might not appeal to the faint-hearted.

SICARIO (2015)

Genre : Crime Thriller

Runtime : 120 mins

Director : Denis Villeneuve

Cast : Emily Blunt, Benicio del Toro, Josh Brolin, Daniel Kaluuya

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