Denis Villeneuve’s Sicario: A Look at the Film’s Accuracy and Future
Denis Villeneuve has become one of the most respected and popular filmmakers in Hollywood, known for his work in the sci-fi genre, including Arrival and Blade Runner 2049. However, he has also made a number of more grounded films, such as Prisoners and Sicario.
Sicario, released in 2015, stars Emily Blunt as Kate Macer, an FBI agent who joins a government task force to combat cartel operations at the US-Mexico border. The film was widely praised for its intense action sequences and exploration of morally ambiguous subject matter.
However, firearms expert and former Special Operations soldier Patrick McNamara has analyzed the film’s nighttime tunnel raid and pointed out several areas where the film falls short in terms of accuracy. McNamara notes that the soldiers should be using illuminators or lasers on their weapons in combination with their night vision goggles, and takes issue with Blunt’s weapon handling within the tunnels.
Despite these inaccuracies, Sicario was a critical and commercial success, earning several Oscar nominations and grossing $84.8 million worldwide on a $30 million budget. The film’s success paved the way for a sequel, Sicario: Day of the Soldado, and there have been reports of a potential third film.
However, the future of the franchise is uncertain, with franchise producer Trent Luckinbill confirming that Sicario 3 is a possibility but the project has seemingly been unable to advance beyond early development. The sequel, Day of the Soldado, failed to match the original’s critical and commercial success, and it’s unclear if the franchise’s producers will be able to recapture the magic of the first film.
Despite the uncertainty surrounding the franchise’s future, the original Sicario remains a movie worth revisiting, with its intense action sequences and exploration of morally ambiguous subject matter making it a standout in the action crime thriller genre.