Miss Bala

One of the things that I find the most interesting to read about in contemporary society are the narco wars. Yes, it's a disturbing subject, but I find it fascinating that there is such a cruel and violent clash between the Mexican authorities and the drug cartels that's going on right across our border. I love the constant one-upmanship employed by both sides to get the upper hand.

For years the cartels have been liquifying bodies in steel drums and leaving mutilated remains strewn across Mexico as a warning, 'don't fuck with us'. Recently, they have upped the ante by creating DIY drug submarines and Mad Max style tanks. The US in turn are now using gun boats and aerial drones to patrol our border. Viscous stuff indeed.

Because of this I was pretty stoked to see Miss Bala, which I had read was one of the better movies released last year. The film is about a woman who was witness to the massacre of Mexican DEA agents by a drug cartel. Because of this, she is unwillingly forced to be a mule for this cartel. Now, I wouldn't say I didn't enjoy it, but it certainly wasn't one of the best movies of last year. And while the idea behind the story was 'riveting', and the directing was good, the movie failed on the most fundamental level; character development. I felt no connection with the main character, so consequently, it didn't really matter to me what happened to her. Because of this, I never really felt any sort of tension which would have made the movie much more enjoyable.

Like I said, while not a bad movie and certainly watchable, I would highly recommend another somewhat similar movie, Sin Nombre, which is successful on every level.