Emily Blunt plays Kate Mercer, an ambitious FBI agent who is recruited by a secretive task force to aid in the escalating war against drugs at the border area between the U.S. and Mexico.
It is on this task force she meets the mysterious mercenary known only as Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro) and tries to get gain more intel on him whilst trying to serve her country.
Right from the outset we are introduced to Kate and forced to walk her shoes as she discovers with the help of her team more than a dozen dead hostages stuffed inside the walls of a mexican drug den. Kate is seen vomiting later outside the den which instantly humanises her and makes you feel closer to her as a character.
This could be said about alot of the characters in Sicario, you felt the sense of trust, mistrust and even danger when they were on screen. A great decision by the director was one to let the audience discover things at the same pace as Kate, there weren't many cut away shots or back story and this made for a gripping watch.
The action in Sicario was a perfect blend of tense and hard hitting. There is a scene early on in the film where Kate and her newly acquired team are escorting a felon through Mexican border traffic and are suddenly caught in a gridlock. With every vehicle around them a potential threat this was a brilliantly crafted scene that saw nail biting tension slowly and painfully give way to violence, easily one of the best action scenes in recent memory.
I loved the stripped back feel to alot of the action sequences, the violence wasn't glorified but rather a means to an end for the characters. The director wanted to show us real situations, with real danger and real consequences.
I can definitely recommend this film if you like great character driven drama with a slow build and an excellent payoff. This one had me thinking for days after the credits rolled.
The Verdict Sicario was criminally overlooked by audiences when it was released because it wasn't what they were expecting. Many expected a hard hitting action film with multiple explosions, this is a shame because what we have here is a beautifully crafted, tense and very personal character driven crime drama.
4/5
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