Minutes
into crime thriller Sicario and you’ve excelled past the intensity of most
films that have come before it this film calendar year. Despite the
introductory remarks of sicario meaning ‘hitman’ in Spanish, nothing can
prepare you for the multitude of decaying bodies that lie in the walls of a
recently FBI-invaded home, displayed moment in to the opening sequence of a
film you know will never let up. Instantly setting the tone and atmosphere that
rarely falters throughout the Emily Blunt led piece, you stumble in to a
gripping two hours of edge-of-your-seat tension and tautness that works well,
most of the time.
Kidnapping
agent Kate Macer (Emily Blunt) and partner Reggie Wayne (Daniel Kaluuya) are
among the FBI team that discovers the putrefying corpses in the wall, minutes
before an IED explodes, increasing the body count further. Volunteering to
track down those responsible for the deadly discover, Macer joins undercover
CIA officers Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) and associate Alejandro Gillick (Benico
del Toro) for a drug cartel crackdown that threatens to control Mexico once and
for all. Synonyms with drug problems, Mexico becomes the perfect landscape for
the narrative – offering an authenticity and indisputability backdrop for the
121 minutes of gripping twists and turns.
Allegiance
is forever questioned, prevalent alongside the film’s other themes of
corruption and violence. It’s hard hitting from the start but knows what it
wants to be; offering a strong direction, enhanced by director Denis Villeneuve’s
decision of prolonged shots and angles that shape the film’s engaging nature. A
traffic jam, with guns either side of the convoy carrying
prisoner-come-hostage, is a perfect example of how brilliantly the director
strings out sequences to almost exhausting rigidity, aesthetically reflecting
the tension through the length of the scenes. Intercut scenes of bodies hanging
from bridges – stripped naked and beaten – deepen the root problem the film
explores.
Emily
Blunt and Benico del Toro shine as the centerpieces of the film. Blunt carries
the emotional resonance that is required in such a heavy setting, while Del
Toro offers a mystery and enigmatic approach that keeps audiences captivated.
By the time the final credits roll following a stand-off between two central
characters, a prognosticate air looms over, harbingering future difficulties in
the narrative of these characters, you still cannot come up for air – the film
refuses to let go once it has you, a sign of a clever, insightful film that has
paid off.
But
my problem lies in that I didn’t LOVE the film. For all its triumphs – a
brilliant aesthetic direction, relentless tension and two great leads – the
film was clever almost to a fault. I wanted supporting characters to be built
with more complexity; I wanted to care about them more. I wish the decaying
bodies sequence was explained – whilst it shaped the film’s aims and goals, it
was almost swept under the rug – I wanted more depth to it. It was such a
gripping opening that little other than the previously discussed scenes and
climatic ending lived up to it. I was constantly wanting more from it. It was
almost too shrewd for its own good.
Summary: Taut and tense, Sicario is worthy of an Oscar nomination for its two leads, but becomes too clever to a fault, often leaving you with too many questions to be thoroughly enjoyed as the ideal crime thriller it very nearly is.
Highlight:
The intensity built throughout the film is astounding. Even when it pauses, you are waiting with baited breath.
(7.5/10)