Sicario (2015)
“You are not a wolf. And this is the land of wolves now”
Longer term readers will attest to my recent obsessional odyssey for the films directed by Canadian filmmaker Denis Villeneuve and following a recent re-watch of this gem, my personal collection is now complete. I originally watched this on immediate DVD release some six years ago and whilst thoroughly enjoying it, moved along with my voracious appetite for well crafted films. In more recent times, I’ve watched, enjoyed and been cautiously optimistic for part two of Dune, loved re-watching Enemy, believed Prisoners to be an altogether different film from the one I recently re-watched and added these written thoughts and musings to my cinema going experiences of 2016 and 2017 when my young son and I both watched and greatly appreciated Arrival and Blade Runner 2049 on the big screen.
Thus, in a roundabout way, re-watching Sicario recently once more brought me full circle in completion of a decade of majestic films helmed by Denis Villeneuve and six of the very best you could wish to see. With Dune Part Two eagerly awaited for a November worldwide release and Rendezvous with Rama and Cleopatra in either development or pre-production, I may well have a continuing odyssey for some time to come.
Written by Taylor Sheridan and nominated for three Academy Awards in 2016, I was immediately drawn to the obvious duality in many characters as well as noting the deliberate two dimensional aspect to one of its central portrayals in this violent hit man drama on the Mexican/American border. The Oscar nominated cinematography of Roger Deakins is pinprick sharp amongst the multiple shootouts and *that* chaotic traffic jam scene, but I was more taken (again) with the musical score from Johann Johannsson, and eerily reminiscent of the humming, bubbling and boiling score that underpins his musical score for Villeneuve’s film Arrival still a year away.
I’ve deliberately plumped for Benicio Del Toro above as I enjoyed his performance above those of the equally superlative Josh Brolin as a brash, down in the dirt war loving CIA agent, the innocence of the rookie FBI agent in Daniel Kaluuya and the in over her head naivety of a senior FBI agent in the guise of Emily Blunt. Jon Bernthal reliably supports throughout in a cameo of a film now arguably taken away from Denis Villeneuve and into the realm of sequels, both in 2018, and a third film currently in development, and a thrilling now franchise in the hands of others and an odyssey still in the works for the masterful films of the Canadian born director.
Johann Johannsson (19th September 1969–9th February 2018)
Afterword: Selected Quotes
“What makes this work is that Emily Blunt is terrific, and Benicio del Toro has this eye-catching appearance as a riddle and an enigma… and that the film is very, very well directed.”
Mark Kermode, BBC
“…then there’s del Toro, who lurks about the fringes of the action for most of the story, and then springs into action in a handful of scenes in a variety of ways that will leave you shaken — and grateful to have seen such beautifully dark work.”
Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun Times
“Led by outstanding work from Emily Blunt and Benicio del Toro, Sicario is a taut, tightly wound thriller with much more on its mind than attention-getting set pieces.”
Rotten Tomatoes
“Sicario” can also be found within my 7 volumes of “Essential Film Reviews Collection” on Amazon with each and every volume free to read should you have a Kindle “Unlimited” package. All 9 of my self-published books can also be read for free on Kindle (but go on, treat yourself to a paperback or hardback version!) and should you watch my short Youtube video linked in the middle of this article you’ll also find links to my Patreon and Buy Me A Coffee and other ways of supporting my work as an independent writer.
"The Essential Film Reviews Collection VOL.1" - link to Amazon
Thanks for reading. I hope this message in a bottle in The Matrix finds you well, prospering, and the right way up in an upside down world.