SICARIO (2015)

Genre: Action/Drama
Running Length: 2:01
Cast: Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, Benicio Del Toro, Daniel Kaluuya, Jon Bernthal, Victor Garber
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Screenplay: Taylor Sheridan

SICARIO is an intense take on the drug cartel. It is gripping and tension-filled. The violence is shockingly realistic but not gratuitous. (In Spanish, "sicario" means "hitman")

This movie tells a story of an idealistic by-the-book FBI agent (Blunt) who is recruited by a shady government operative led by an equally shadowy character (Brolin). Their ambitious mission is to take down a drug lord in Mexico. Blunt's character is brought into the plan for reasons she's unclear of. The audience is kept in the dark too as the plot slowly unveils its grand plan leading to a violent and brutal conclusion.

From a technical standpoint, I'm always intrigued with movies which are able to drum up an atmosphere of dread from get go. In this case, it's because of the perfect synergy of Villeneuve's impeccable direction, tight editing, superb cinematography and the bass-heavy score. There is an action sequence 1/3 into the movie which was so intense the guy sitting next to me in the cinema hall pulled his legs towards his chest.

In terms of performance, as good as Blunt is, the show belongs to Del Toro. He crushes it as a middle-aged merciless gunman. He steals every scene he's in. The rest of the supporting cast is equally solid. 

Although it has the thrills of an action flick, the heart of this film is actually a drama which takes place in a world of grey, where our protagonist is faced with difficult decisions which would compromise her moral values. I was hoping it would focus more on the latter like what Villeneuve's did in his last film Prisoners, but somehow the end results didn't give me a satisfying emotional punch in the gut. Nevertheless, Sicario stands apart as one of the best action drama movies I've seen.

Rating: 8.5/10