Emily Blunt plays Kate Macer, an idealistic FBI agent who is
hunting down victims kidnapped by cartels in Arizona. When her crack unit
uncover the bodies of over 30 victims, she is enlisted by a shady elite task
force, headed up by the flip-flop wearing Matt Graver, played with effortless
cool by Josh Brolin. But Kate is left in the dark by the officials that have
drafted her in, as the war against the ruthless drug trafficking cartels
intensifies, Kate finds herself out of depth. Operating around the dangerous border
between the U.S. and Mexico, Kate becomes embroiled with an operative even
shadier than her superiors; a man with a past so murky, it can be difficult to
know which side he is on.
Benicio del Toro is great as the blank-eyed, shark-like
presence at the heart of Sicario’s dark moral core. His Alejandro is a
suspicious man from the moment Kate lies on him. The suit, the quiet
determination and his overall moody demeanour make him a difficult character to
warm to. But compared to Blunt’s much more wide-eyed and straight-laced Kate,
he is a far more interesting character. It is very welcome to see a female lead
in this kind of film, with Blunt managing to deflect much of the machismo that
surrounds, and is directed towards her, but unfortunately her character gets
overshadowed by the huge presences of Brolin and del Toro. Still, Kate is the
moral compass of the story, and a vitally tough character adrift in a sea of
suspect individuals.
Towering above even these fine performances is the
atmosphere created by Villeneuve and his collaborators. Roger Deakins’
cinematography, so often praised in any film he elevates, is stunning here. Every
shot drips with tension, particularly as Deakins takes a sky-high view of the
border and messy towns and roads below. Accompanied by an incredibly moody
score by Jóhann Jóhannsson, it’s the kind of film you can’t shake off easily.
And more importantly, it’s a film you will almost immediately want to see again
and again and again.
