"Sicario" Review

OP-ROB RATING: LEGEND

In Mexico, Sicario is a word for hitman, it is also the title for Denis Villeneuve’s latest film. The majority of “Sicario” takes place in arid places where law and order has dried up along with the water. Kate Macer (Emily Blunt) is an FBI agent specializing in kidnappings who has just led a raid on a house in Arizona filled wall to wall (literally) with bloody corpses. The raid also resulted in the untimely death of two police officers. In order to exact revenge on the men responsible, she agrees to get onboard with a Department of Defense joint operation with Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) and his steely eyed colleague Alejandro (Benicio del Toro). A complete outsider to the inner workings of the cartel, Kate asks Alejandro if there is anything she should know, his response is, “You’re asking me how a clock works. For now let’s just keep an eye on the time.” The first stop for the group is in El Paso, Texas, where they link up with a team of Delta Force soldiers and a few Texan Deputies. Before she has time to think, Kate is strapped into a bullet-proof vest and driven across the border into Ciudad Juarez where she gets her first full dose of harsh realities surrounding the Mexican cartel.

Silence is the defining element in “Sicario”. The majority of the film is accompanied solely by diegetic sound, loud noises are sparse in between conflicts. As a result, moments of gunfire sound louder, and feel more intense. The background music in the film comes from the award-winning composer Jóhann Jóhannsson. Denis Villeneuve only cues the music when a scene is being built up. The moments of greatest suspense occur when people are allowed to just stare at each other, or sign a piece of paper in complete silence. This style of filmmaking is such a far cry from most action movies released today that are so noisy in their entirety, and boy is it refreshing. The quiet scenes allow time to think about the potent message that “Sicario” delivers.

In a scene near the end of the movie, a group of soldiers (including Kate, Matt and Alejandro) descend a hill into hostile territory. The silhouettes of armor clad operatives get consumed by the blackness against the backdrop of a beautiful desert sunset. As far as the audience is concerned, there are two worlds that exist in “Sicario”, one is defined by law and procedure, and the other by competition and havoc. Each has a measure of justice that must be exacted. “Sicario” brings into question the means by which order is achieved in the darkness.

Josh Brolin turns in a familiar performance as Matt Graves, a smug Texan reminiscent of Llewelyn Moss from the Coen Brothers’ masterpiece “No Country for Old Men”. Benicio del Toro is equally convincing as Alejandro, a poised assassin with knack for interrogations and a surprising amount of depth. Emily Blunt delivers an inspired performance as an embattled idealist. Her character, Kate, must either come to terms with unforgiving realities or cling to her principles in the face of certain death. One of the secondary characters in “Sicario” is a corrupt Mexican cop named Silvio (Maximiliano Hernández). In most action thrillers, Silvio wouldn’t have a backstory, he would simply serve his role as a nameless bad guy. In “Sicario” however, Silvio is not only given a name but also a home, a wife and a son. The audience is given a window to see what his life is like in the small town of Nogales. For a movie essentially titled “hitman”, this complexity is surprising. “Sicario” is a complex, intense, and culturally important film that isn’t afraid to test the boundaries of the war on drugs. It is the best film I have seen so far this year.

"The Martian" Review

OP-ROB RATING: ALL-STAR

         Mark Watney, played by Matt Damon, is an astronaut who has been left stranded on Mars. His crew presumed that he died during the storm that curtailed their mission. However, Watney has survived and now must find a way to live four years on a planet with harsher conditions than any on earth. Why four years? That is when the next mission to Mars is set to land. Back on his home planet, NASA must deal with the public reaction to the news of a dead astronaut. After some satellite pictures reveal movement near the HEB (the crew’s temporary base on Mars), NASA realizes that Watney is still alive, and the plans regarding a possible rescue mission are set into motion.

        Throughout the film there is the contrast between relative simplicity of Watney’s survival on Mars and the politics of governmental agencies on Earth. Watney must solve complex problems in order to obtain simple necessities like food, water, and heat. Down on earth, the President of NASA, Teddy Sanders (Jeff Daniels), and his team have to juggle the possibilities and consequences of saving Watney. A failed mission costing more lives could jeopardize the future of space travel; a successful mission could secure it. With the whole world watching on network news, NASA must perform a daring rescue; the only question is whether it will be completed in time to save Watney.

            Not as fantastical as “Interstellar” and not as simplistic as “Gravity”, “The Martian” finds a spot somewhere in between. Despite what the title may imply, there are no aliens in the movie. There are no unheard of planets or ridiculous time travel theories. “The Martian” devotes itself to science, and the celebration of intellect. Watney must find ways to subsist in a shelter built to last less than three months, figure out how to contact NASA, as well as grow food on a planet with no water. As Watney jokingly records on a monitor, “I’m going to have to science the shit out of this!”

        Despite Watney’s dire circumstances, “The Martian” is a surprisingly lighthearted affair. The film is laced with jokes, and Watney is undyingly optimistic. It is this levity that makes “The Martian” so much fun to watch, and distinguishes it from other recent space movies.  Notwithstanding this, I will have to say that there is one sequence in “The Martian” that is so similar to one in “Gravity” that there may be some copyright infringement lawsuits on the horizon for director Ridley Scott. However, despite this one oddly similar scene, the overall tone of this film is completely different.

             Many of the characters, with the one exception of Teddy Sanders, mirror the optimistic spirit of Watney. Vincent Kapoor (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Mitch Henderson (Sean Bean) are both NASA experts who carry the slogan “no man left behind” and fight against the doubts regarding a risky rescue mission. This sentiment is shared by Watney’s crewmembers that include Beth Johanssen (Kate Mara), Rick Martinez (Michael Pena), Alex Vogel (Askel Hennie), Chris Beck (Sebastian Stan) and the captain of the crew Melissa Lewis (Jessica Chastain). Other noteworthy characters include the nervous wreck NASA PR director Annie Montrose, played by Kristen Wiig, Zhu Tao (Chen Shu) an engineer for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Richard Purnell (Donald Glover) a college aged wiz with an innovative idea for a rescue.

            “The Martian” is a welcome return to space for director Ridley Scott, whose last space movie, “Prometheus”, came with great promise and little satisfaction. What’s proved in “The Martian” is that simplicity is the key. Scott manages to get the audience enthusiastic about the farming of potatoes, and the inner workings of a government agency. Behind the strong lead performance of Matt Damon there need not be any encounters with slimy, hostile aliens or a jump through a black hole. Farming potatoes in a space base on a planet with no water is challenging and exciting enough. “The Martian” is an enthralling story of human perseverance and triumph of intelligence; such a quality of film seems “extra-terrestrial” at the movies these days.

"The Visit" Review

OP-ROB RATING: BENCH

M. Night Shyamalan must have some deep seeded fears and insecurities when it comes to the elderly. As it turns out, so do many other younger people. In his new movie, “The Visit”, Shyamalan plays to these inhibitions. Paula Jamison (Kathryn Hahn) hasn’t seen her parents since the day she stormed out on them and ran off with her boyfriend. Now several years later, her boyfriend has bailed on Paula and their two teenagers, Becca (Olivia DeJonge) and Tyler (Ed Oxenbould). Out of the blue, Paula’s parents have reached out and asked to meet Becca and Tyler. Tentatively, Paula has agreed to put the two on a train to rural Masonville, Pennsylvania to stay with her estranged parents for a few days. Hence we have “The Visit”.

The grandparents are John and Doris Jamison, (Peter McRobbie and Deanna Dunagan), and at first, they come off as a caring and simple old couple looking to start a relationship with their grandchildren. They greet the kids at the train station and head out to their old farmhouse all set for a week of bonding. A commanding feature of the film is that we see the tale unfold “found-footage” style. Becca, while only fifteen, has decided to shoot a documentary about the visit, hoping that the footage can provide some sort of healing “elixir” to her family situation.

Things start off well, however it is as early as the first night that the kids get their first dose of “old people” weirdness. Becca ventures out of her room past curfew seeking a late-night snack, and instead stumbles upon Doris who is pacing around beneath the staircase vomiting ferociously. Things get stranger the next day when Tyler explores a shed only to discover a massive pile of soiled diapers. When the kids tentatively ask about these occurrences John dismisses Doris’ episode citing the flu, and simply that “she’s an old woman”. Doris covers for John’s collection of diapers telling Tyler that he has “incontinence” and is embarrassed about it.

Shyamalan does well playing with the audiences feelings about old people. In general we understand how they can sometimes be sickly, or in some way a little strange albeit very warm and caring. The oddities of the story are believable enough within an old person stereotype right up until Shyamalan lays down his “twist” and all the eerie episodes makes sense. Shyamalan utilizes the “first-person” view to increase suspense, and make the scenes feel more enclosed and claustrophobic. While “The Visit” is a vast improvement compared to Shyamalan’s notorious streak of bombs including “The Happening”, “The Last Airbender” and “After Earth”, it still isn’t in the same ballpark as his earliest films due to the duo of ghastly teenagers played by DeJonge and Oxenbould and a weak supporting narrative.

Becca comes off as a hormonal dilettante and Tyler as a wannabe version of Soulja Boy, although he fancies himself more in the realm of Tyler the Creator. The fact that Becca finds it appropriate to make a documentary about first meeting her grandparents is ridiculous, and she extinguishes any likeability she has by saying things like “don’t touch it, let it swing naturally” when recording a shot of a swing. Tyler is equally unpalatable with his self-proclaimed rapper name “T-Diamond Stylus” and nauseating rhymes.

Behind the sturdy horror plot, Shyamalan inserts a “coming-of-age”/redemption element that never really secures footing. Somehow Becca and Tyler must face their demons regarding their absentee father and throughout the horrific unfolding of events in “The Visit”, they both find themselves. This ramshackle backstory is clichéd and ultimately an excuse for a sickening final act.

There are flashes of the genius that directed “The Sixth Sense” and “Signs” in several scenes throughout “The Visit”. These moments of true suspense and surprise are encouraging indications that Shyamalan may be returning to form. However, “The Visit” was equally as annoying as it was enthralling, and only noteworthy because of its director’s recent flops.