Sicario

This review may contain spoilers!

A very gritty look at urban warfare. I would give Sicario a 7.5/10.

I think what this film did really well is present a fantastic look at what can best be described as urban warfare; FBI and CIA agents use the armed forces to infiltrate Mexico and commit illegal acts of war without repercussion. There's a very interesting debate here about what can be considered right and wrong; the ethics of law enforcement are constantly being brought into question. I also really enjoyed that the aspect of a female lead went hand in hand with the concept of the film; as an outside figure in this very masculine world she represents a more moral perspective and we are led through these illegal acts along with her. The cinematography is quite unique in this film, the shots take in either so much or just small details; we range from dust motes to rolling shots of the US/Mexican border. Furthermore the score for this film is really haunting and steals the scenes; you feel this jarring sound and it serves to create a greater feeling of suspense or tension.

 Emily Blunt, who played Kate Macer, is a fantastic lead in this film; you feel confusion and outrage in the exact same extremes as which she shows it in this film. Josh Brolin, who played Matt, portrays a very convincing military 'cowboy'; he's a casual role but he's completely convincing as this de facto leader of the strike team. Jeffrey Donovan, who played Steve Forsing, is really good as this sleazy CIA character; but the scene where they drive through the Mexican city I really enjoyed his dialogue delivery. Daniel Kaluuya, who played Reggie, was one of the few actors I felt portrayed a character who could create personal relationships; for example the chemistry between him and Blunt in this film is really genuine and nice to see. Julio Cedillo, who played Fausto Alarcon, was actually a great final villain; I think someone who can slip into a menacing role while still playing a family man is fantastic.

However the best performance came from Benicio Del Toro, who played Alejandro. Del Toro was really good at playing an enigmatic role that we slowly learnt more and more about with each scene. I think it's important to be able to have such control over a role that they develop in how the audience perceives them. Ultimately I liked Del Toro because when it was revealed how ruthless his character was; you see him as this very brutal agent who was highly trained in war and torture.

Where the plot of this film suffers is when it tries to scale this film back in a way that gives focus on the characters; I find that you can't spend so long setting tone and themes as your focal point to go back and try and reinforce what was already a bit weak in terms of developed story. The characters hadn't been given enough background to be interesting, what matters is the war on drugs element and less so about Macer's divorce. The pacing for this film was a bit slow, the plot dragged out about between moments of interesting action. Furthermore the editing was a bit basic in terms of simple cutting, this was a major contribution to the pacing problems. Finally there was a part with the infrared camera that was clearly animated; it looked fake and was a bit jarring to watch in the film.

Jon Bernthal, who played Ted, was this rather unnecessary moment of the film; we see Bernthal awkwardly play love interest and spy without being very convincing. Victor Garber, who played Jennings, gives a performance that's really in role to the extent he feels more part of the background than anything; he talks with a lot of focus upon the jargon and you get bored of his role very quickly. Maximiliano Hernandez, who played Silvio, was a relatively small role who was given more focus than was needed; as it was you didn't really care what happened to Silvio by the time he died so giving him those extra scenes beforehand was pointless. Bernardo P. Saracino, who played Manuel Diaz, was quite a disappointing antagonist; to be clear he had been mentioned in the film so much that the way he was so swiftly taken down was disappointing.