If you enjoyed The Hurt Locker or Zero Dark Thirty, chances are you'll love this!
It deserves atleast four* Oscar nominations - Best Background Score, Best Cinematography, Best Direction and Best Film.
(*Mind you, del Toro is exceptionally good, too; just that his kind of role may not fall into the Oscar jury's consideration. Else there'd be a fifth!)
What I liked most about Sicario is that this is a kind of film that dwells more on the characterization rather than the subject... And one can learn from Sheridan and Villeneuve how to avoid cliches off of a globally age-old subject like drug trafficking, and instead make it complex and original!
FBI SWAT agents Kate (Emily Blunt) and Reggie (Daniel Kaluuya) get really eager to get to the bottom of things after they discover dozens of corpses behind walls, inside a desert-home in Chandler, Arizona. Now, the CIA are also searching for the people responsible for the massacre, and Kate is chosen to go on the mission. She tags her partner along.
I really liked the casting where the primary role is given to a lady, and boy, does she (Emily Blunt) do full justice to the director's faith in her! Dennis Villeneuve's direction nicely brings to life vulnerability and emotions through Kate, Alejandro, and Reggie's characters; at the same time showing the clinical attitude required in such missions through Matt (Josh Brolin).
I'd have preferred a more mysterious ending instead of a masala one, and full marks to Jóhann Jóhannsson for turning simple ordinary scenes into dark eerie ones with his background score.
The opening sequence leaves a lasting impact.
The tunnel night scene is beautifully shot, and may bring back memories of the night vision camera-work in Zero Dark Thirty. Special credits to Roger Deakins' camera work, not only for this scene, but for his work throughout the film.
The Bridge of the Americas' action reel amidst a traffic jam is also filmed tremendously well to give you the chills.
There are empty-vessel movies that makes news only via loud publicity, while there are others that make the right noises with great work, in terms of story or direction. Sicario easily falls into the latter category, having gained attention globally after its nomination for the Palme d'Or at Cannes 2015.
Taylor Sheridan has written a complex story and Denis Villeneuve has teamed up efficiently with him to direct an epic crime thriller out of Sheridan's script.
The only part where the movie got flimsy for me was the ease at which Alarcón is nailed down... too less security for a cartel big Lord, I think!
"Subtitles yaake ardha-pardha haakidhru?"
Just like how you'd have gone, "What the heck was that, in an English review!?", I was left bewildered when a lot of the Spanish lines did not contain subtitles, especially, in the first half of the film. Not sure if it was a theatrical glitch or whether that was how it was meant to be.
Oh, by the way, I was just wondering why they did not have subtitles for all the foreign language dialogues, in Kannada, above. :D
Emily Blunt and Benicio del Toro are amazing to watch, as they get into the skin of their respective characters. Josh Brolin plays his CIA agent toughly well. The action is grim and gritty.
My verdict: THE English movie of 2015 for me - this one! I go with 4 out of 5 stars.
So much so that there could be a sequel on Benicio del Toro's character Alejandro... can't wait for that one, already! :)
I next want to watch Villeneuve's work, "Incendies", which was nominated for the Best Foreign Language film, at the Oscars, in 2011.
It deserves atleast four* Oscar nominations - Best Background Score, Best Cinematography, Best Direction and Best Film.
(*Mind you, del Toro is exceptionally good, too; just that his kind of role may not fall into the Oscar jury's consideration. Else there'd be a fifth!)
What I liked most about Sicario is that this is a kind of film that dwells more on the characterization rather than the subject... And one can learn from Sheridan and Villeneuve how to avoid cliches off of a globally age-old subject like drug trafficking, and instead make it complex and original!
FBI SWAT agents Kate (Emily Blunt) and Reggie (Daniel Kaluuya) get really eager to get to the bottom of things after they discover dozens of corpses behind walls, inside a desert-home in Chandler, Arizona. Now, the CIA are also searching for the people responsible for the massacre, and Kate is chosen to go on the mission. She tags her partner along.
I really liked the casting where the primary role is given to a lady, and boy, does she (Emily Blunt) do full justice to the director's faith in her! Dennis Villeneuve's direction nicely brings to life vulnerability and emotions through Kate, Alejandro, and Reggie's characters; at the same time showing the clinical attitude required in such missions through Matt (Josh Brolin).
I'd have preferred a more mysterious ending instead of a masala one, and full marks to Jóhann Jóhannsson for turning simple ordinary scenes into dark eerie ones with his background score.
The opening sequence leaves a lasting impact.
The tunnel night scene is beautifully shot, and may bring back memories of the night vision camera-work in Zero Dark Thirty. Special credits to Roger Deakins' camera work, not only for this scene, but for his work throughout the film.
The Bridge of the Americas' action reel amidst a traffic jam is also filmed tremendously well to give you the chills.
There are empty-vessel movies that makes news only via loud publicity, while there are others that make the right noises with great work, in terms of story or direction. Sicario easily falls into the latter category, having gained attention globally after its nomination for the Palme d'Or at Cannes 2015.
Taylor Sheridan has written a complex story and Denis Villeneuve has teamed up efficiently with him to direct an epic crime thriller out of Sheridan's script.
The only part where the movie got flimsy for me was the ease at which Alarcón is nailed down... too less security for a cartel big Lord, I think!
"Subtitles yaake ardha-pardha haakidhru?"
Just like how you'd have gone, "What the heck was that, in an English review!?", I was left bewildered when a lot of the Spanish lines did not contain subtitles, especially, in the first half of the film. Not sure if it was a theatrical glitch or whether that was how it was meant to be.
Oh, by the way, I was just wondering why they did not have subtitles for all the foreign language dialogues, in Kannada, above. :D
Emily Blunt and Benicio del Toro are amazing to watch, as they get into the skin of their respective characters. Josh Brolin plays his CIA agent toughly well. The action is grim and gritty.
My verdict: THE English movie of 2015 for me - this one! I go with 4 out of 5 stars.
So much so that there could be a sequel on Benicio del Toro's character Alejandro... can't wait for that one, already! :)
I next want to watch Villeneuve's work, "Incendies", which was nominated for the Best Foreign Language film, at the Oscars, in 2011.
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