sicario - the meaning spelt out in text as the film starts
jewish zealots armed with daggers attempting to expel romans
but more ominously for this film - the mexican meaning - hitman
the action starts with a secret daylight raid on a suburban house
heavily armed men in black surround it as a large truck drives up
it crashes through a wall to launch the familiar room to room raid
one man inside is efficiently shot as he attempts to defend himself
our heroine kate (emily blunt) seems to be in charge and perplexed
nothing inside - until they start ripping into the walls to find corpses
and plenty of them - she and others seen vomiting - then an explosion
one of the troops opening a hatch in an outside shed setting off the trap
crikey - it's all very full-on and actually quite realistic it feels - liking it
there is now concern that the cartels are so deep into american territory
this done with a realistic looking tv news item about the house of horror
it seems kate has a reputation that sees her then in a casual job interview
married? - divorced - kids? - no - wanna help deal with drug cartels? - sure
matt (james brolin) wants her on board and so tells her she has to volunteer
she and him then seen boarding a private jet and joined by one serious dude
he being alejandro (benicio del toro) - gives nothing away while matt sleeps
some stunning footage of the small shadow of the jet over hostile terrain
a suggestion we are indeed heading into alien territory on this mission
they land in mexico and are then seen as part of a convoy of vehicles
some kind of raid - many heavily armed suvs branded as federal police
the town they are in is in squalor - there are people hanging and mutilated
a comment made that the cartels do that to remind people who is in charge
it's all quite confronting but i'm happy to go with it - it does seem plausible
high-tech surveillance and guidance systems means targeting is precise
so the nab their man and back-track out of the place without incident
but at the border crossing the remaining unmarked vehicles hit a snag
traffic has stopped are they are warned armed men are in other cars
those men are stalked, confronted and taken out with precision gunfire
back at home base kate goes nuts - her fbi persona screaming 'illegal'
but a reminder that this group is acting on orders from high - forget it
some time out then sees her at a bar and introduced to a baseball star
they hit it off and back at her pad she spots evidence of cartel links
it then turns violent with some very impressively acted fight scenes
alejandro (hitman) shows up at the nick of time to nab her assailant
she then suspecting she is being used as bait - too late - in too deep
the team then receive a tip-off about the location of a covert tunnel
and in they go - complete with night-vision cameras and weaponry
we see most of the action through the cameras and so more realism
a shootout and emerging on the mexican side in a large warehouse
a corrupt policeman seen unloading bags of cocaine from his car
alejandro then orders him to drive and they latch onto a luxury merc
the policeman shot, the merc driver then ordered to drive to his base
this being the home of the main cartel head they have been targetting
he responsible for the beheading and acid-bathing of alejandro's family
upon confronting him he says - nothing personal - alejandro - it was for me
of course the hitman then takes out the boss and his own wife and 2 sons
the end - but for a final scene of young mexican boys and a game of soccer
one lad the son of the corrupt policeman - and there's explosions nearby
normal life it seems in this most desperate of places - mexico - na - pass
the film closing out with some more eerie music from johann johannson
so well done - take a bow dennis villenueve (enemy, prisoners, etc)
there's talk of a sequel as it will be a critical and commercial success
the mixture is right - realism, violence, guns, sex, drugs...and...music
