Emily Blunt is a bonafide badass chick. We've seen this several times and know she can hold her own. She's not just a female Jason Statham ass kicker, but a character with true skills and believablity. She was badass in Looper and she was downright insane in the membrane badass bitch in Edge of Tomorrow. Both of these characters could handle the action around them with finesse and badass ease, but they were also characters with depth. This is a good place to be if you're a female looking to transcend the common dude-riddled action movie. This is what I thought Sicario would be. And while it wasn't the Emily Blunt kicking ass and taking names flick I was anticipating, it was still a very tense and taught thriller that's worth a look if you can get past the fact that Blunt's character is anything but worthy of your cheers.
Blunt plays Kate, an FBI agent leader of a task force looking to take down down drug houses owned by a highly volatile drug cartel. Immediately, they storm a house in Arizona only to find dozens upon dozens of bodies within the walls and a bomb in the shed. She's recruited by Matt (Josh Brolin) an operative looking to cut the head off the snake and go down into Mexico and put a hurting on the leaders of said cartel so it will dissolve from the top down. With him is mysterious operative Alejandro (Benecio Del Toro) with motives of his own that may or may not impede upon the mission and "going by the book". While in Mexico, they pick up an important member of the cartel assuming the rest of the cartel will try and retaliate before they get to the border, engaging in a firefight with them in front of civilians. This is when Kate realizes that the mission she signed up for may or may not be the one she's on.
It's a slow burn of a thriller, one that will absolutely keep you on the edge of your seat thanks in part to the direction of the film, but mostly due to the soundtrack. Little ominous pulses and beats amplify the tension and play with your ever increasing heartbeat. We're not given all of the information, as Kate isn't, so as she's trying to figure out if there's something sinister going on, so are we as well as assuming the worst for all of our heroes. I mean, if we've learned anything from Breaking Bad, Mexican cartels ain't nothing to mess with and they will kill you so hard back. It's a tense film from beginning to end and a very mature action thriller. There isn't any big Michael Bay-esque set pieces as this film cares more about it's characters and plot than it does wowing us with its explosions and mayhem. Plus the fact that Benecio Del Toro is other-worldly badass.
But, my problem is the character of Kate. She is merely a bystander to the rest of the dudes enacting their plan. She never is able to do anything herself and when she does try to go toe to toe with anyone, she always loses and must be saved by a man. And it's heightened because she is a woman in a man's world that we expect her to jump out of her cocoon, but it's impossible to do so. This is obviously the message director Denis Villeneuve is going for, but it makes the character less fun to watch. When you finally realize her role in the story, it's almost as if we feel we've wasted our time trying to get invested in her life when it's the men all around her that are doing the more interesting stuff. And it's not just because she's a woman... it's the character. Whether portrayed by a man or a woman, this character would have nothing to do but sit back and watch the events happen around him or her, but the fact that it's Emily Blunt had suggested to me that she would at least get her badass moment to shine. Unfortunately, the character is fucked over as much as the audience is in their expectations. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing in the context of the film.
Like I said, it's a slow burn and it's a very unexpected movie. But, it's worth it.
B+
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