While “Sicario” might be a tad dry for a pure action flick, it functions quite effectively as a drama. Compelling performances, several powerful scenes, and a tense finale ensure an engaging viewing experience, leaving a lasting impression long after you leave the theater.
In an American city bordering Mexico, police uncover a house where a drug cartel has been disposing of its enemies, with fifteen bodies found entombed within the walls of a building on the city’s outskirts. Homicide detective Kate Macer takes on the investigation, but she is soon assigned to a more serious task: a special unit has discovered the source of the cartel’s operations. Alongside two enigmatic “consultants,” Alejandro and Matt Graver, Kate ventures into Mexico, where her notions of law and justice will face a severe test. In the war against the Mexican mafia, victory can only be achieved by mirroring the enemy.
Denis Villeneuve had to fight tooth and nail with studio executives who wanted to turn Emily Blunt’s character into a man. Only through a joint effort with screenwriter Taylor Sheridan did the director manage to defend his vision of the character.
It hasn’t even been five years since Canadian director Denis Villeneuve suddenly transformed from a provincial arthouse filmmaker into one of the most respected creators of his generation, whose new projects are eagerly anticipated by both audiences and critics. And the expectations of “Incendies” fans have never been disappointed – all of Villeneuve’s films made in the 2010s are truly unique works, combining drama with action, weaving fantasy and reality, making viewers empathize with the characters and follow the on-screen events without looking away. The anticipation for “Sicario,” Villeneuve’s new thriller, was further heightened by attention from the Cannes Film Festival. It seemed like the Canadian’s moment of glory had arrived…
According to Benicio Del Toro, Villeneuve cut 90% of Alejandro’s lines from the script. In doing so, the director gave this character a mysterious quality, leaving the revelation of his true motives for the very end of the film.
But no. “Sicario” doesn’t surpass either “Prisoners” or “Enemy,” although it remains a solid film in its genre, head and shoulders above many competitors. However, it seems Villeneuve gave in to the audience, and this backfired – the film turned out to be much more mainstream than the director’s previous works.
Familiar Territory, Fresh Perspective
First and foremost, the film’s subject matter raises concerns – for the umpteenth time, screenwriters turn to the theme of the confrontation between American law enforcement and Mexican drug traffickers. To his credit, Villeneuve stepped onto a well-trodden field, where only the lazy haven’t ventured, and managed to leave his mark on it. However, the banality of the plot’s premise may deter the less discerning viewer – again, bad Mexicans are up to no good, again, bad Americans go to punish them, again, bang-bang, ouch-ouch-ouch, and “I can’t take the injustice anymore, I’m out” at the end. Yes, both aging B-movie stars and modern young stars like to participate in such stories, but almost no one has achieved anything significant here for a long time. But Villeneuve always has an ace up his sleeve: a non-standard vision of good and bad.
Morality Under Fire
It is on this contrast of “good-bad,” “us-them” that the film’s main trap is built, essentially forcing you to sink into your seat for two hours. The gradient stretching from “good” to “evil” doesn’t change from light to darkness in Villeneuve’s world; the life of special agents on the Mexican border is fifty shades of black. Whatever you do, however idealistic you are, whatever you sing about justice and honor, under bullets, on the verge of death, defending your idea of the law, you have to shoot, forgetting about “good.” In “Sicario,” Villeneuve tramples on morality, but not with his own feet, but with the situations his characters find themselves in – they don’t have time to think about protecting the rights of suspects when they jump out of cars with weapons, they are capable of betraying and framing for their own purposes, they don’t care about “paper laws,” they live by their own rules.
Strong Characters
The three central characters turned out extremely well. Emily Blunt, who unexpectedly became a “tough girl” after “Edge of Tomorrow,” played the law-abiding Kate, who is still hopeful for good, albeit with fists. But the road to the Mexican “hell’s kitchen” will force her to look at many things with different eyes. Josh Brolin is extremely appropriate in the role of special agent Graver – the way he uses Kate says a lot about this character. Finally, one cannot fail to mention Benicio Del Toro, who played the revenge-obsessed, cruel Alejandro. It is his confrontation with Kate that will become the culmination of the finale.
Subverting Expectations
Speaking of the culmination, action movie fans should not expect a “Fast & Furious” fireworks display of chases, “Heat’s” exciting shootouts, or “Quantum of Solace’s” explosions from Villeneuve’s film; the Canadian is stingy with spectacular stunts. A car chase will inject a little adrenaline, as will unexpected shots at the main character, but otherwise “Sicario” is much closer in mood to “Zero Dark Thirty,” where 4/5 of the film was spent on conversations and preparation. The emphasis in the film is still on the deformation of ideas about morality against the backdrop of a threat to life – a complex, multifaceted issue that is by no means the most visually remarkable.
“Sicario” (the original title, by the way, says much more about the plot than the localized one) is not Dani Villeneuve’s best film, but it is still a strong, high-quality work that makes the viewer not only admire the sight of weapons, but also think about the meaning of their use. You are unlikely to want to rewatch this film soon, but you will remember the aftertaste of betrayals and setups for a long time, and in this, it seems, is the meaning of all the Canadian’s films – discuss and wait for a new film. He has brilliantly coped with this again.