Review - Sicario

Sicario could have been a lot better.

Deakins captures some brilliant images in Sicario

Canadian director Denis Villeneuve is being hailed as the new visionary film-maker, largely because of his trademark meandering and somber thrillers - Prisoners being the most recent and deservingly acclaimed. This time, he has taken his turn to US-Mexican Drug War, layering his story with underlying currents of political power and personal vendettas. An idealistic FBI-agent, Kate Macer (Emily Blunt), enrolls to a secret mission with CIA and Department of Defense. Her boss, Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) is fairly tight lipped about the mission and Kate is fairly unaware of the true agendas of the seemingly fishy mission. Add character of Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro), we've got our protagonist almost blindfolded in front of plots and conspiracies.

Taylor Sheridan's brisk screenplay changes its protagonist in the last act - first two acts have Kate as our central character, and in the final act, Alejandro swaps the role - which as a storytelling structure doesn't works flawlessly. I wouldn't call this turn of leads as a complete disaster, Sheridan does makes a fine conclusion for both the characters near the end, but it does comes out as abrupt and forced.

Script issues aside, Sicario works fairly well for most of the part - thanks for the convincing performances by the actors - Del Toro and Blunt particularly shine, given the meaty parts in the film. Villeneuve as a director handles and balances the film between the drama and thrills quite well, and the film never goes beyond the scope of the script for loud hysterics or for mere set pieces.

Roger Deakins has shot this film digitally (and brilliantly). The difference between film and digital cinematography has never been so obvious - Sicario looks pristine and without a single speck of noise. The dynamic range is absolutely gorgeous - in one of the remarkable scenes, we see agents in their silhouettes, equipped with guns and gears, walking towards a tunnel against deep violet twilight sky. In another scene, near the beginning, we see Kate's troop travelling across Juárez's dusty roads - the camera follows the group of SUVs like a shadow, bouncing when there is a speed-breaker, just like the vehicles themselves. Deakins transports you to the scene immediately - without added dimness of 3D.

With all round top notch production (special mention to Jóhann Jóhannsson's electronic score - polar opposite to what he did in Theory of Everything), Sicario is a watchable crime-thriller, a nice companion piece to works like Traffic and Breaking Bad. It could have been infinitely better - its muddled screenplay reduces the impact of the great acting on display and focused direction. But it does provides you enough chills down the spine to warrant a viewing.

3.5/5