Photo courtesy of Lionsgate
I am being totally honest when I say that when I came home after this movie, I was actually scared of the dark. I was afraid that Benicio del Toro was crouching in the corner, waiting to take me out. I've never had this fear before.
“Sicario” is the dramatic telling of an idealistic FBI agent (Emily Blunt) who’s chosen to be on a task force to take on a cartel along the U.S./Mexico border.
First of all, Roger Deakins (the cinematographer) is an absolute master of his craft. He creates sprawling landscapes, claustrophobic tension and honest emotion on the faces of the exhausted characters. One particular still shot that should earn him another Oscar nomination showed Brolin's men literally descending into darkness as they headed towards the tunnels. It is a very visual film, telling a lot with expressions and action as opposed to discussion. Much of the plot progresses leaving the audience in the dark, leaving them to figure it out as the movie goes along. Why are they there? Who are they after? When will it all ever be able to end?
And that's the point. No one knows. Nothing has worked so far, so America decides to do something radical: create chaos. It's an interesting take on a semi-familiar story, and the cinematographer and director work in complete harmony to tell a visceral, visual story. Darkness and shadows are recurring themes in this film, symbolizing how little the average person actually knows about what is going on in the war on drugs and how confusing the allegiances can be. I was constantly trying to figure out what was going to happen next, but was rarely able to do so, as this film weaves around in a fairly unconventional route.
Blunt is solemn, Brolin is darkly funny but del Toro owns this movie. He is calculated and deeply disturbed, but never overplays it. The relationships that the characters have with each other are often muted and subtle, but somehow the script clearly depicts their feelings about each other with little dialogue.
My only complaint about this film is the editing job. Sometimes the tension-building became too tedious, making it lose a bit of its power. However, in the last thirty minutes, that aforementioned tension really hit hard.
I'm intrigued to see what Villeneuve will do next.
BONUS POINTS: The thermal camera sequences, the gorgeous cinematography, Josh Brolin’s evil grin
NEGATIVE POINTS: Using Internet Explorer/Bing