The special operations team of Denis Villeneuve's Oscar-nominated crime film upsets the specialist due to lack of technique

With the recent release of the acclaimed Dune: Part TwoDenis Villeneuve has become one of the most respected and popular filmmakers working in Hollywood. Even outside of his time on the desert planet of Arrakis, Villeneuve is known for his work in the science fiction genre, making films such as Arrival in 2016 and the underrated Blade Runner 2049 in 2017. Villeneuve, however, also made a number of more grounded films with great success.

The French-Canadian writer/director released Prisoners in 2013, for example, a crime thriller starring Hugh Jackman and Jake Gyllenhaal. This grounded and harrowing film paved the way for another realistic film several years later, which swaps the contained story of a man seeking the truth about his daughter's kidnapping for a national story involving special operations soldiers and the war on drugs. .

Sicario gets a middling accuracy score from a firearms expert

Denis Villeneuve's film makes some mistakes

Analysis by firearms expert and former Special Operations soldier Patrick McNamara Sicario
and points out several areas where Villeneuve's film falls short. Launched in 2015, Villeneuve's follow-up Prisoners and Enemy stars Emily Blunt as Kate Maceran FBI agent who joins a government task force to combat cartel operations on the US-Mexico border. Sicario It received rave reviews and was a box office success, with particular praise heaped on several of the film's high-tension action scenes, including one that takes place at night in and around a network of tunnels.

In a recent video for InsiderMcNamara breaks down SicarioThe nighttime tunnel invasion reveals that the film – and Blunt – make several mistakes. The firearms expert first points out that soldiers should wear some type of illuminator or laser on their weapons in combination with their night vision gogglesbut he also questions aspects of Blunt's weapons handling within the tunnels themselves. Check out McNamara's analysis below and also his score for the sequence of 10:

One of the things that bothers me about this clip is the use of firearms in the dark. They all have NODs, right? Night observation devices. None of these people, from what I saw, none of them had any kind of illuminator on their rifle. So you're basically shooting indiscriminately.

It's a huge battlefield multiplier and I'm surprised they didn't put one in here. I think they should be special operations troops, not in the indiscriminate fire business. They have to be able to shoot with impunity – it's their job, that's what they get paid a lot of money for.

She's in the line of fire, her rifle takes a hit and now she has to transition to her pistol. This has never happened to me, ever, but I know two guys that this has happened to, taking a direct hit to the rifle and rendering the rifle inoperable.

When she transitioned from the rifle to the pistol, I thought the grip was really good. It was a good, solid catch. It was a total extension, which… when you get further, probably not a total extension like this. You want to bring it in a little bit to create kind of a shock absorber because if it's at full extension when you're moving you're going to create kind of a pendulum and it's going to bounce up and down. […]

I would rate this clip in terms of realism as a six [out of 10]. I thought the weapon techniques weren't great, not good, just above average.

What Sicario's Accuracy Score Means for the Movie

The film didn't need perfect precision to be successful

As can be seen in the graph below, Sicario It was a critical and public success. The film, written by yellow stone Creator Taylor Sheridan was widely praised for Villeneuve's direction and his exploration of morally ambiguous subjects. The action sequences were also worthy of praise, as they were all extremely intense and looked realistic.

The film received several Oscar nominations, including Best Cinematography, Best Original Score and Best Sound Editing. In addition to its critical success, Sicario It was also a box office victory, grossing $84.8 million worldwide on a budget of $30 million.paving the way for the sequel Sicario: Day of the Soldado three years later. There was also talk of a potential Sicario 3.

The fact that Sicario may feature some inaccuracies, ultimately it probably won't drastically affect the film's reputation as a success. After all, most viewers wouldn't notice these inaccuracies, and the film looking realistic is ultimately more important than it actually being. Still, McNamara's analysis of Sicario remains interesting and valuable as an exercise, and sheds more light on the process of film production and the relationship between art and realism.

Will Sicario 3 ever happen?

Why is there reason to doubt

Franchise producer Trent Luckinbill confirmed that Sicario 3 is a possibility, although the project has apparently failed to advance beyond initial development. There have been reports that a third film would bring Blunt back as Kate, reuniting the trio from the original film, which includes Josh Brolin as Matt Graver and Benicio Del Toro as Alejandro. Blunt herself revealed earlier this year, however, that she had not seen a script for Sicario 3and she called the whole project “rumor.”

Part of the reason a third film might take so long to get off the ground is the fact that Soldier's Day It wasn't as big a hit as the original film. As can be seen in the graph above, the sequel failed to match the original both critically and at the box office, despite having a larger budget. Done at US$35 million, Soldier's Day may have expected a break-even point between $70 million and $87.5 million.

The fact that Luckinbill and the franchise's producers are looking to make a third film suggests that the sequel achieved profitability in the end, but a third film still seems like a financial risk. Plus, after being left out of the sequel, it's unlikely that Villeneuve will direct again. Sicario 3which is a huge blow. Given Sheridan's work on the yellow stone universe and beyond, it's also unclear whether he'll have time to write the script anytime soon. For now, however, the original Sicario remains a film worth revisiting.

Source: Insider