Sicario

“Sicario” is the 2015 crime drama film directed by Denis Villenueve, who is also the director of 2013’s “Prisoners.” It stars Emily Blunt, who plays an FBI agent sent to the border to fight the war on drugs. The group, led by a man named Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro), crosses the border to eradicate cartel bosses.

As with “Prisoners,” “Sicario” has the full Denis Villenueve skill in effect.

One such thing would be the indescribable gentleness that lies in each scene. This type of dimensional approach to a scene is truly fantastic for a film such as “Sicario,” as there are many tense moments throughout that are heightened by the effect of the initial numbness. It allows for some truly unsettling and intense scenes.

The film certainly doesn’t cheap out on its many beautiful shots. For example, while plenty of movies and TV shows use basic stock footage of a plane lifting off, “Sicario” settles for breathtaking self-taken shots. Another example would be a scene featuring thermal vision cameras. Though the thermal effect is almost always added in after the initial production, the shots featuring the effect were actually taken in real time.

As mentioned earlier, the movie uses multiple dimensions to tell its story.

That is no different when we focus on the characters.

The characters in Sicario are some of the most layered and interesting characters I have seen to date, with Benicio’s character being my main focus. Alejandro was originally planned to have many lines of dialogue in the film, but almost 90% of it ended up being cut. This was one of the best decisions made for this movie. His character was strong enough already, and an abundance of dialogue would have made his character over friendly. Instead, Benicio’s character is a cold, brooding, and troubled man, and Benicio himself gave a wonderful performance to coincide with this.

10/10- “Sicario” is a wonderfully shot, masterfully directed, amazingly acted, and astoundingly layered film. I give this film my highest recommendation.