[Video] - The CIA writes a movie review on "Sicario" a movie involving FBI, CIA and a Drug Cartel

[UltimaOnline]

CIA's movie review :
https://www.cia.gov/static/e49644d37f881e6c44672adae8886cc6/Sicario.pdf

 

[UltimaOnline]

​

Can anyone explain Sicario to me? I just saw it, and I'm a bit confused.​

So Brolin is CIA, right? And they needed Blunt and her buddy just to be there to operate within the USA? I'm confused about all these DEA, Marshalls, etc, all forming this task force and what there objective was.
I'm completely blown away with how the movie was shot. It was beautiful, and the scenes with the night vision and infrared were some of the most exciting things I've seen in a while. But was Brolin's character's only objective to find out where this drug king pin was to let Alejandro go in solo to kill him? Why did they even need Blunt's character? They already had so many federal bodies represented. Every other person on that team was so into it. Even the higher up FBI guys were like, "out there, it's different rules". Why did they even include this green FBI agent? They could have gotten someone that was more trustworthy from the FBI, that really understood what was going on.
Overall, I really liked the way the movie was shot. I'm just confused about the specific plot details. Especially re: the jurisdiction of every federal agency operating within US borders but the FBI. And also how any of the agencies can justify arming Alejandro and letting him work along side them. It's still unclear who he officially works for.
17 Comments
Award
Share
Save




Comment as BedokFunlandJC



Comment















Markdown Mode

Sort By: Best

level 1
connr-crmaclb
·6 yr. ago

Blunt was a patsy to allow operations on US soil.
Alejandro was there to make the kill. So the US gov could technically be clean of the hit, and make it appear like the cartels were just infighting for power.
Summary....The US gov wanted to retaliate against the Senora cartel for fucking around on US soil, which is a no-no in the drug war. So they helped the Colombian cartel take over, and this was the way they facilitated the take over. Blunt was a tool to bypass legal restrictions. Brolin was the person running the op.
52
Reply
Share



level 2
[deleted]
·6 yr. ago





level 1
shankspeare
·6 yr. ago·edited 6 yr. ago

Investigations on US soil need to be conducted by the FBI. The CIA is not allowed to run the operation because they are a foreign intelligence agency, and the DEA are not allowed to run the operation because they are a law enforcement agency, rather than an investigation agency.
Kate (Blunt) is technically the head of the operation because of these limitations. It isn't directly stated why she was chosen over another officer, but this is my interpretation: There is no one within the FBI that Matt (Brolin) trusts to allow him to do the operation his way. Most FBI agents would report him, probably when he refused to issue the arrest warrants early in the film. So rather than choosing someone he can trust, Matt chooses someone he can manipulate. Kate is a new officer, and she also recently led a SWAT team into a trap, resulting in the deaths of two of her men. Matt correctly guesses that this will severely damage Kate's faith in her decision making and leadership abilities. Kate's doesn't have confidence in herself, which makes her extremely vulnerable to suggestion, and therefore manipulation. This proves to be true throughout the film, but is particularly evident in the final scene, where she has so little faith in her judgement that she can't shoot Alejandro (Del Toro), even after he forced her to sign the waiver at gunpoint.
EDIT: To elaborate on why Matt didn't trust another FBI agent: Even if he was able to find an FBI agent corrupt enough to break the rules, that agent would also be more likely to betray him for personal gain. "No honor among thieves," as they say. In choosing a weak-willed but idealistic agent, he minimizes both the chance of being disagreed with or reported, as well as the chance of being manipulated himself.
24
Reply
Share



level 1
Kitzinger1
·6 yr. ago

Blunt was just a patsy. They needed her to operate on US soil but that was just about all she amounted to. She was just a body that they felt they could manipulate and control. In the end they were proved correct. She may not have liked it, may have hated it, but in the end she was manipulated just the way they wanted.
6
Reply
Share



level 1
jikae
·6 yr. ago

From what I remember, they needed Blunt because those agencies can't run domestic operations without involvement from the FBI. Not sure how that works officially, but that's what was explained in the movie.
Alejandro was a hitman, for whatever reason, whose family was murdered in front of him by the drug cartel guy. Brolin is CIA, but he runs some shady business and they were utilizing Alejandro to take out the cartel leader so they (the US gov't) can control the drug market and also for him to exact revenge.
They included Blunt because she was so gung-ho about doing the right thing, that they were hoping that she was going to turn a blind eye to all the shady business they were pulling.
I do want to re-watch it because it was one of my favorite movies of the year...still is.
10
Reply
Share




level 1
crapusername47
·6 yr. ago

They needed a spotless, unquestionable FBI agent to sign a document legitimising their operation on US soil. She's a patsy.
The CIA and the Delta Force guys are not supposed to be conducting any kind of operation within the United States, that's the FBI's job.
3
Reply
Share



level 1
[deleted]
·6 yr. ago

Blunt was just there so the CIA could say that they had an FBI agent on hand. CIA can't operate in the US without an FBI liaison. It's why all of her superiors told her to be cautious. Brolin kept her in the dark as much as possible so she wouldn't realize that the whole reason she was there was so the CIA could pull off an assassination mission. It's also why he didn't want her partner involved because he was a lawyer and would be less naive than she would be.
Alejandro was a hitman for the cartel, who also lost his family on the orders of the man he killed at the end of the movie. He was a former lawyer who fought against the cartels but after his family was murdered he joined an opposing cartel to get revenge. When the deal with the CIA came along, he was the hitman chosen because of his own personal vendetta.

 

[Rogue Trader]

Solid movie. I was surprised how underrated it was when someone recommended it to me back in 2014/15. I was super excited about the sequel but i think i expected too much. There's talk about a second sequel coming up