Review of Sicario (2015) by Kaptenvideo — 24 Dec 2017

In the lawless border area stretching between the U.S. and Mexico, an idealistic FBI agent (Emily Blunt) is enlisted to aid in the escalating war against drugs.

Also starring, Josh Brolin, Daniel Kaluuya, Benicio Del Toro, Victor Garber, Jon Bernthal.

„Sicario“ was the only movie in English directed by Denis Villeneuve that I hadn’t seen yet. All five (including „Prisoners“, „Enemy“, „Arrival“, „Blade Runner 2049“) have been cult hits and among the most critically acclaimed screen works of given release year.

Villeneuve’s movies are emotionally distant, slow-burning, and usually more dependent on mood than sharp storytelling. I am not the fan of his style – it's too slow, rather uneventful, lacks sharp dialogue and character building – but I gotta admit that it always pays off.

I could also say that „Sicario“ doesn’t really offer any intriguing characters except Del Toro’s (good that he’s gonna be back for sequel „Soldado“) and the best drug war / trafficking stories are just more captivating (especially „The Wire“ and „Breaking Bad“)….

But it doesn’t change the fact that it’s a solid thriller, and a cool movie which makes you gradually more and more thankful that you endured the rather slow first half.