It’s a Sicario with a lot of good things… just a bit Blunter.

It’s hard to see Josh Brolin as anyone but Thanos now, and he pretty much kills half of everyone in this too.  And something that really confuses me is how much Benicio Del Toro looks like Brad Pitt.  If you’d asked me years ago, I wouldn’t have seen it, but it’s like they’re ageing into each others faces.  I got a lot of time to look at both Brolin and Del Toro and ponder these things.

There’s a lot of man-standing, although more so man-facing.  There’s not much dialogue, and I’m quite okay with that.  The score is phenomenal, the sound so haunting and tense and epic – a really, really integral part of all the feels.  The desert scenery is as always, stunning.  The story is pretty straightforward, but still has quite a few twists and turns…some aspects felt a bit muddly.  Although we agreed it is a film you really have to pay attention too… no spoon-feeding here.  There is a lot of intensity, manly intensity, and all the epic drone, helicopter and armoured car and heavy calibre weapon action you expect… it’s nice to get out of office… 

If you’ve not seen the first one, you probably don’t need it for backstory, but be aware this is quite different – I think the first one is better.  Both are about literal border-transgression… down Mexico way near the big fence.  However while the first Sicario placed its heart with Emily Blunt’s character, trying to understand and reconcile realities, bureaucracies, criminalities and justice… this one feels lost.  There’s no-one to identify with in terms of pondering the rights and wrongs… so it kind of goes in hard with “we don’t play by no rules.”  

There’s not as much gloriously creepy hardcore death and bodies, the enemies don’t feel as dangerous… in fact I found it hard to believe they even existed in this one.  And that’s despite all the shooting.

J* gives it 4 stars.

PS.  My partner says so far it’s movie of the year for him… but his favourite genre is “violence.”

<review written in 2018>