Bullet Points: Night of the Sicario
Fair warning to the readers of Bulletproof Action: Be careful judging a movie by its title. This is the case with Night of the Sicario. A movie I promise has nothing to do with Sicario or Sicario: Day of the Soldado.
- The Legal Stuff: Saban Films brings us Night of the Sicario. It is set for a limited theatrical release on April 16th, and it will arrive on Digital and VOD on April 20th. Night of the Sicario stars Natasha Henstridge and Costas Mandylor. John Riggs is the director. Matthew Eason and Ernesto Melara are credited as the screenwriters.
- The Plot: Die Hard at a nursing home, sort of. A powerful drug cartel is out to kill a young girl and her father. This duo hides out at a personal care home owned by Taylor Ward (Natasha Henstridge). Meanwhile, DEA Agent Cole Bennet (Costas Mandylor) runs around in the hurricane like rain doing god knows what until the final 15 minutes of the film. Night of the Sicario was previously known as Blindsided. Who wants to watch a movie called Blindsided, when you can add Sicario to your title and make your film sound like it will be awesome? The big question is: Who do you have your money on? The cartel or the senior citizens? I think we all need a trip to Las Vegas.
- I Feel Bamboozled: I will not lie; I was excited to watch after I viewed the trailer. I even went back and watched the trailer after my viewing, and I believe the person who cut the trailer deserves a raise. The person should also consider a career in politics because I will never trust this person again. Good thing I have no clue who made the trailer. This is a case of myself being fooled into watching something that is not what it appears like at all. I had no idea the senior citizen brigade would chew up so many scenes. I had no idea how much faith the movie has in it. I am not knocking faith-based films, I simply was not expecting to have church service during my viewing. I am not sure if Night of the Sicario’s DVD’s will end up on the shelves of the Christian bookstore or not. It is probably more inspirational than faith based. If you market this movie correctly, you will find an audience. This is a good thing if you want your film to make money. The problem is, the target audience will have to read honest reviews like mine, and I doubt the target audience visits Bulletproof Action on the daily.
- Natasha: Fresh off her starring role in Hero Dog: The Journey Home, Natasha Henstridge is back as the lead in Night of the Sicario. This is not Species, Ghosts of Mars or Maximum Risk. Natasha tries her best with the script and supporting cast given to her. I hope she made some good money filming. We all need to eat. She does have a couple of action scenes, but then again, if you have seen the trailer, you have seen her action. I wish her the best in whatever film she decides to do next.
- The Action or Lack Of: There is a badass shootout scene at the beginning, minus all CG gun muzzles and other gun play tactics that drive me crazy when I watch DTV action. We also see the old folks try to kick an ass or two. This film could have used Stephen Lang, but I swear they found Lang’s almost-doppelgänger in some guy I do not feel like looking up his name. I also like how all the old people pretend they are ninety years old, and they are probably only a few years older than Natasha Henstridge and Costas Mandylor. Speaking of Costas, if your alarm bells do not go off as Costas disappears for most of the film, then you have not watched a lot of action movies. Again, I wish Costas nothing but the best. He has one of the coolest actors for a brother in Louis Mandylor. We watch movies like Night of the Sicario for the action, not for the dialogue. Night of the Sicario is way too wordy and a bit preachy.
- Final Words: Night of the Sicario might not be the action movie for you, but there is an audience for it. My real-life best friend is a youth pastor. I will make sure to let him know to check it out.
- Grade: C-