Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/594552
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 1 NOVEMBER 2015 46 This Week IN CINEMAS TODAY St James Cavalier Valletta Tel. 21 223200 Henry V 18:30 Embassy Cinemas Valletta Tel. 21 227436, 21 245818 Pan (PG) 10:30 (3D), 13:30, 16:00 (3D), 18:30, 20:50 (3D) The Martian (PG) 10:30, 15:00, 18:00, 21:00 Legend (18) 18:00, 20:50 The Intern (12) 10:30, 13:30, 16:05, 18:35, 21:10 Suffragette (12A) 10:30, 13:45, 16:15, 18:40, 21:00 Hotel Transylvania 2 (U) 10:15, 13:45 (3D), 16:10, 18:30 (3D), 20:55 Eden Cinemas St Julian's Tel. 23 710400 Hotel Transylvania 2 (U) 14:00, 16:10 (3D), 18:20 (3D), 21:00 The Intern (12A) 14:25, 18:20, 20:55, 23:30 Suffragette (12A) 14:00, 16:20, 18:40, 21:00, 23:20 The Gift (15) 14:05, 16:30, 18:50, 21:15 We Are Your Friends (15) 14:05, 16:20, 18:35, 21:00 Sinister 2 (15) 14:15, 16:25, 18:45, 21:20 Gemma Bovery (15) 14:15, 20:45 The Transporter Refueled (15) 18:10, 23:30 Legend (18) 14:20, 18:05, 20:45 Sicario (15) 14:20, 18:00, 20:50, 23:30 The Martian (12) 14:25, 18:10, 21:15, 23:20 The Walk (PG) 14:30, 20:55 Howl (15) 14:10, 18:30 Pan (PG) 14:20 (3D), 18:05, 20:45 (3D) Empire Cinemas Bugibba Tel. 21 581787, 21 581909 Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension (15) 14:00 (3D), 17:00 (3D), 19:15 (3D), 21:15 Suffragette (12A) 10:30, 13:25, 16:00, 18:35, 21:10 Hotel Transylvania 2 (U) 10:35, 13:30, 16:00, 18:15, 20:45 (3D) The Intern (12) 10:40, 13:25, 16:00, 18:35, 21:10 The Martian (12) 10:30, 13:30, 17:15, 20:55 Sicario (15) 11:00, 13:45, 16:00, 18:30, 21:00 Pan (PG) 10:30, 13:25, 16:00, 18:25, 21:00 (3D) IN Mexico, 'sicario' means 'hit- man', the opening to the film named Sicario kindly informs the viewer. I'm told the word has the same meaning in other countries, including Italy and Spain, but that tagline tells all one needs to know about this film. It involves a hitman, and the setting being Mexico one can surely bet drug cartels are somehow involved. Review over, you can stop reading now, right? Well, of course not. Director Denis Villeneuve's latest kicks off with one Kate Macer (Emily Blunt), an FBI agent leading a raid on a house in Phoenix, Arizona. The situation on the house esca- lates, with Macer just about man- aging to dodge a shotgun blast, one revealing something intensely sinister sealed within the drywall – dozens of corpses, all victims of the drug cartel operating in the area. Two cops die during the as- sault, victims of a booby-trapped shed, leading Macer to demand further action against the cartel. Enter Matt Graver (Josh Bro- lin), a seemingly jovial opera- tive of murky affiliations (DOD? CEA? WTF?) and a pressing in- vitation for Macer. Will she join him and Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro), a colleague of sorts clad in a crumpled white suit and a most morose of expressions, on a trip to have a look at how things are done on the other side of the bor- der? And thus starts Macer's trip on a mission with an almost ab- surdist objective, to "dramatically overreact". Make no mistake, Sicario is less of a documentary on the state of the effect of the supposed war on drugs on the people of Mexico, than a heavily fictionalised thrill- er. Villeneuve's direction starts off taut with the assault turned house of horrors, and never, ever lets go, even while ensuring both characters and action have space to breathe. Through a combination of tight- ly controlled editing and superb photography scenes taking their time to build up to a crescendo, even during sequences as simple as, say, Graver going up a ladder to an air base roof in order to have a look at "something cool" (the "something cool" in this case is a view of gunfire and explosions from the cartel war going on in Juárez). Veteran cinematographer Roger Deakins, the man behind most of the Coen brothers' output and the latest James Bond films, shoots Si- cario much like a Western of sorts – one replacing six shooters and horses with assault rifles and ar- moured SUVs, but still involving an endless war between outlaws and wannabe law enforcement on the fringes of a beautifully bleak, almost alien landscape. In the background, the minimalist thumps and screeching strings of Jóhann Jóhannsson's soundtrack only add to the tension, while sounding like nothing else out there. As for performances, the stars here are definitely Brolin and Del Toro. Brolin's Graver exudes menace even as he merely smiles, and while Alejandro might appear morose and of very few words (re- portedly Del Toro demanded his script to be slashed, insisting the character is not one to speak so much) he goes to show he is the more dangerous of the two. Emily Blunt is also on fine form, even if her character is little more than audience stand-in – like the viewer, Macer is thrown into the deep end of a situation far more beyond the law and morality she doggedly sticks to, and by the end her involvement in these events is little more than peripheral. A similar, if even more unneces- sary, addition is a subplot involv- ing the day-to-day life of a cartel henchman, a sequence perhaps marred with its bringing to mind henchman-based gags from the Austin Powers movies (the con- cept is also seen in an issue of the cult comic series The Invisibles). In short, Sicario is truly Alejan- dro's story, and such inclusions points out an Achilles Heel of both Taylor Sheridan's script and Villeneuve's direction – a leaner, nastier film would have ditched Graver's character and overall arc, even if that would have made for a film that's almost unbearably bleak for most audiences. Still, such criticism does not diminish Sicario's achievement – this is a proper, solid thriller, of the kind Hollywood seemingly does not make any of these days (probably/surely because it is too busy with superhero-based pabulum). Yes, the unkind can describe it as little more than vio- lent, sensationalist pulp set in a scary place south of the border, but Sicario looks good, sounds great and keeps the sinister ten- sion going on for all of its 121- minute running time. Fun fact: Villeneuve and Deakins will be behind the re- cently announced Blade Runner sequel, and while there's no way the world even needs such a film, the strength of their collaboration alone is enough to make this re- viewer check it out come opening day. By Marco Attard More than just sensationalist pulp ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ BULL'S EYE ★ ★ ★ ★ ON TARGET ★ ★ ★ GOOD SHOT ★ ★ NEAR MISS ★ DAMP SQUIB FILM True Detecting: Emily Blunt steps into the heart of darkness, seen from the very first sequence in Denis Villeneuve's Sicario SICARIO (18) ★ ★ ★ ★