Why I Hated Sicario

It could have been great, it had Emily Blunt and Benicio del Toro, Rodger Deakins was the cinematographer, heck, it even had a cool score. "Sicario" could have been great, but it wasn't, and no, it wasn't the story, even though it didn't particularly grab me and it wasn't even the pacing, even though it was a bit off. The major issue with Denis Villeneuve's latest production is quite subtle really, it's something that I didn't actually notice until about halfway through the film when I realised that there was a complete lack of women.

Now I know what you're thinking, "but Emily Blunt's character? She kicks ass, in the trailer she has a gun and everything!", which is true. Emily Blunt's character Kate is an FBI agent tasked with assisting the CIA in taking down a Mexican drug cartel, and in the first few scenes of the film, it appears as if the character can really hold her own. The opening scene alone (which actually is quite cool) shows her leading a kidnapping raid. She's a cool character, but the problem is, she's basically the only truly fleshed out female character in the entire film. There are a few women dotted here and there, but only one of them speaks and when she does, it's for one scene. Now I've heard the argument against this, claims that there aren't many women in the FBI, and how women aren't that involved in the drug cartels. I will agree that there's probably very few high ranking women in the cartels, but there are female FBI and CIA agents so there's really no excuse for the fact that the film is a glorified sausage fest.

As if this wasn't bad enough, the one female character, ONE, is incredibly passive. The assertive and in control woman that we see in the first fifteen minutes is instantly replaced with a woman that stays in the car during an excursion to extract a prisoner. Kate *slight spoilers* basically spends the entire film being beaten down by the men around her. The most brutal scene occurs near the end, and involves Josh Brolin's character Matt kicking her to the ground and forcing her to stay down there, in a really uncomfortable scene that appears to slightly allude to rape in both its dialogue and action. It's completely unnecessary and only added to the discomfort and dislike that I felt whilst watching the film.

Watching "Sicario" served to remind me of a highly prevalent issue within Hollywood, which is its complete lack of opportunity for women both in front and behind the camera. Yes, most films produced nowadays are conscious of this fact, and greater effort is being made, but it's not enough. Female characters still fall into various stereotypes, and anytime that we are offered what is meant to be a "strong female character" she is either completely dehumanised and devoid of emotion, or else really isn't that "strong" at all.