Sicario is a movie built upon uncertainty: uncertainty about loyalties, motives, and purposes in our nation’s never-ending drug war, uncertainty that’s always one step away from descending into full-blown chaos. As is made clear throughout, right and wrong and black and white are all incredibly difficult to distinguish here, and any attempt to change the status quo–deep-seated corruption–will likely be met with deaf ears and lots of bullets.

Central to that idea is Emily Blunt’s Kate Macer, someone who holds onto the belief that she’s on the right side of right and wrong, that there are rules, that the people around her are going by the book. Of course, the book in question is quite shitty, and she comes face to face with the harsh reality of the situation many times throughout the movie. Blunt captures her character’s determination, frustration, confusion, and vulnerability wonderfully, and the movie’s focus on her dynamic with Benicio del Toro’s Alejandro is electric. Along with Josh Brolin’s Matt and Daniel Kaluuya’s Reggie, the cast provides a good amount of levity while also revealing the darkness underneath. Victor Garber is also present in this movie, and he does things like speaking.

Ultimately, though, the idea that Villeneuve’s trying to hit on about the futility of Kate’s idealism does weaken the rest of the story a bit. It’s really interesting to have a main character essentially pushed aside by the supporters–also nice that she’s not defined by her sex–but the result for everyone is more symbol than character. It is intentional to have Kate’s role diminished as the movie progresses, but when we shift focus to another character, it starts to feel like we’ve spent both too much and too little time with her. Solid idea, but the plot and other characters are thinned out as a result, and the emotional impact doesn’t build up as nicely as it could’ve (it definitely still hits at the end, I’ll give it that).

Whatever weaknesses there may be in plot is mostly made up for in production. Oscar-less Roger Deakins knocks it out of the park yet again, combining beautiful aerial shots with tight close-ups as he and Villeneuve craft the movie’s heart-pounding action sequences. There’s a traffic jam scene early on that’s a highlight, and Deakins adeptly uses windows and doors to obscure and reveal, to ramp up the tension. Later on, there’s a nighttime tunnel scene that showcases his amazing talent when it comes to filming in the dark, and throughout, he has a penchant for utilizing contrasts between shadows and light. One of his best sequences involves the shadow of the characters’ plane at the edge of the screen, flying upward as we’re taken through the skies of Mexico. It’s just a small blip in the already existent landscape, something that’s trying to permanently alter, but will most likely continue to fail.

GRADE: B+

OTHER THOUGHTS:

-I was lucky enough to catch this in LA on opening night. It feels great to finally get to see a movie during its limited release period (limited releases are infuriating).

-Some of my favorite shots: Kate smoking while walking toward a group of buses, soldiers with a sunset in the background, a knife in a tunnel entryway, and a group of helicopters flying off into the distance. Me merely describing them here does them no justice.

-Half of Emily Blunt’s instructions for this movie: “Angrily walk away”.

-There is a generic “guy has kid” storyline in this. It is meh.

-Great score by Johann Johannsson. The sound in this movie is top notch as well.

Photo credit: Sicario, Black Label Media, Thunder Road Pictures, Gollumpus