invisibleunicornninja
If you don't know anything about the Mexican drug cartels and want to, this is a movie to watch. Its well-shot and well put together. As an American, I learned some shocking and horrible things from this movie. Its a decent documentary, though a few scenes look a little staged. Even if they weren't, I was left scratching my head wondering how they got the shots. Its a good movie, and succeeds at what its trying to do. I'd recommend it to someone who wants to learn about this kind of thing, but otherwise probably not.
Starchild Gonzales
What is most admirable in this excellent film is how Heineman risks his life in the middle of the crossfire with his camera so that he can show us this tragic, appalling and complex situation to which there seems to be no solution and where one step forward means two steps back. Watch it. Now.
Jackson Booth-Millard
The definition of "cartel" is: an international syndicate, combine, or trust formed especially to regulate prices and output in some field of business; I had heard the word in crime films and stuff, so it was going to be interesting to see how this Mexican / Spanish documentary film would look at them in real life. Basically this film looks at two two modern-day vigilante groups, the Arizona Border Recon, led by American veteran Tim "Nailer" Foley, and the Autodefensas, led by Michoacán-based physician Dr. "El Doctor" José Mireles. The film also looks at the two groups shared enemy, the murderous Mexican drug cartels, including the violent Knights Templar, who have wreaked havoc on the region for years. The film takes place in Michoacán, southwest Mexico, and Arizona, including Altar Valley, a desert corridor also known as Cocaine Alley, the three focused groups are both sides of the law and bring their own brand of justice to a society where institutions have failed. Director Matthew Heineman got up and close to the action, going to great lengths to capture the chilling and visceral actions of the two sides of this serious issue, including firefights, gunpoint interrogations and torture sessions, I agree with the critics that this film lacks objectivity and some kind of conclusion, but you cannot the deny power and it showing the blurry line between good and evil, an interesting enough documentary. It was nominated the Oscar and BAFTA for Best Documentary. Worth watching!
Mike B
This is definitely of interest but I found it in some ways skimming the surface. It provides us with very viewable vigilante groups (and maybe too entertaining), but there is not much insight into the "why". Why has the Mexican government failed so much in dealing with the cartel groups? How have the cartel groups infiltrated the police forces, the Mexican military...What has happened in the many towns that have come under the sway of the cartels? From my readings, conditions are far worse on the southern Mexican border than on their northern border. Also there is no data provided in this documentary on how drugs get over the border – and more importantly the mules that do this.Really this documentary should have been entitled something along the lines of "Vigilante Groups in Mexico and Arizona".
AD
