benicio del toro underrated KING

is a movie that’s been on my watch list for a very long time, but i finally gave it a try because i’ve fallen in love with Denis Villeneuve work, and he did not disappoint, once again a very interesting and high quality movie. Was a fun watch ★★★★ - near perfect (8/10)

Sicario es un thriller intenso que se adentra en la guerra contra el narcotráfico desde una mirada fría y moralmente ambigua, siguiendo a una agente del FBI que es arrastrada a operaciones encubiertas en la frontera entre Estados Unidos y México, donde las reglas cambian y la ética se vuelve borrosa. La historia sigue a Kate Macer, una agente idealista que se une a una fuerza especial clandestina para combatir a los cárteles, descubriendo que el enemigo no solo está afuera, sino también en los métodos utilizados para enfrentarlo. La película destaca por su atmósfera opresiva, una fotografía poderosa y una banda sonora inquietante que refuerza la tensión constante, además de actuaciones sólidas, especialmente la de Benicio del Toro, que aporta misterio y peso dramático. En los puntos negativos tenemos su ritmo pausado puede sentirse denso para algunos espectadores y su enfoque moral ambiguo deja más preguntas que respuestas. Sicario es una película contundente y bien ejecutada que prioriza la experiencia sensorial y el impacto emocional sobre la claridad narrativa, ideal para quienes buscan un thriller serio y reflexivo, aunque no completamente accesible.

Benicio Del Toro is a king for this performance. Not sure how anxiety, violence, and tactical revenge masked in a government operation can be beautiful, but this was. 40/365 movies & TV for 2023

Led by outstanding work from Emily Blunt, Benicio Del Toro and Josh Brolin, Sicario is a slick, tightly wound thriller with much more on it’s mind than attention getting set pieces… Everything about the film in general is brilliant and a tour de force of filmmaking, though it is understandable if it doesn’t connect with all. Sicario is impeccably made for starters, the setting is both audacious and visceral in showing the horrors and brutality of the setting and the editing is tight, stylish and enhances the brutal atmosphere. Best of all is the cinematography with Roger Deakins demonstrating once again why he is one of the best contemporary cinematographers in the business with cinematography that’s stunning and darkly gritty, also bringing out the visceral horror. Denis Villeneuve’s directing has a beautiful darkness but also a hard edge that is perfect for the story that Sicario tries to tell. More than most directors, Villeneuve understands that the implication can often be more powerful than the depiction. The music score is haunting and pulsating, one can actually feel their heart beat with tension and anticipation. The script is tightly structured and rich in complexity, while the story doesn’t need attention grabbing set pieces to impress or make its point and has more than that on its mind. It is heavily reliant on atmosphere, this is brutal, harrowing stuff that effectively shows the horrors of the situation and setting without overdoing or sugarcoating it, also showing respect to it. It’s wonderfully murky and dark, while also taut and kinetic in its visceral energy. What I appreciate the most about Sicario is the intensity throughout the film before the actual intensity really begins… For example, it wasn’t the gunshots or explosions that gave me chills. It was in fact the more quieter scenes. The calm before the storm! The final scene is incredibly eerie, with the kids and parents accepting violence as a part of their lives, it genuinely hit me more than I was expecting. That is honestly how you end a film! The film’s message is troubling because it is often true: the longer we cling to our morals, the more likely we are to become sheep…