In 1991, Pablo Escobar (Benicio Del Toro) is preparing to surrender and go to jail. He gathers his supporters including Nick Brady (Josh Hutcherson). He has a special assassination mission for Nick. A few years earlier, Canadian brothers Nick and Dylan Brady are building a surfing camp on the coast. Nick falls for local Maria. After being extorted by local thugs, Nick gets help from Maria's uncle political leader Pablo Escobar.

Benicio Del Toro plays Escobar as a charming family man with a monster underneath. He shows that he would be great to play Escobar in a biopic, just not a biopic about a short Canadian surfer. Josh Hutcherson still looks like a kid. His character is hopelessly naive and white toast. His relationship with Maria has limited heat. I can't even tell how long they've been together. His child-like smile doesn't help. He's a kid getting caught with his hand in the cookie jar. It's a sideway method of taking on the iconic drug lord's story. The last act does have some thrills but they are always undercut by Hutcherson's shock and Canadian nice-boy sensibilities.

I guess a role like that in Hunger Games can make comparisons like that easy. Also if you spend most of the time with Josh instead of Benicio (playing Escobar) you might feel tempted to question what the movie is actually about. But there are hints at the beginning which become bigger towards the end.

I'm not sure, that's how Escobar actually was. But the man depicted is anything but a Saint, even if he might have done some nice things for his people. Obviously some things are heightened for movie purposes especially towards the end. The suspense is there, but the movie might be even better, if there was more of Escobar. His character being mesmerizing every time he is on screen. But maybe that was the reason. He came off too good and therefor might have confused people (again especially towards the end) ... Decent effort of a real crime thriller

I went into this film knowing very little about who Escobar was, so I went through an experience similar to the main character in the film, as he realized that he had encountered one of the devil's true incarnations on Earth. Escobar, as portrayed in the film is a figure of mythical proportions, someone whose deeds are really difficult to believe because it seems almost impossible a human being is capable of committing such actions.

Del Toro, in a towering performance that is at least worthy of an Oscar nomination, makes Escobar come alive, though they are not very similar physically, but the behavior, the charm, very similar to a snake's, one that you can't ignore or walk away, though you know it's lethal. Escobar in the film grows from just a man who has immense amounts of money at his disposal to someone who commands much power through the darkest of means.

The story in the film doesn't dwell on Escobar in biographical terms. It deals with a Canadian young man who happens to fall in love with Maria, Escobar's niece, and little by little, realizes he might have just wandered into a nightmare that will have serious consequences for him and his closest relatives.

Nick is welcomed into a world that doesn't make any sense to him, a world populated by people who have amassed insane amounts of money and flaunt it ostentatiously to anyone who attends their social functions. It is obvious they are "new money" because many of the women walk around in outfits that are expensive and mostly having the color gold. They sometimes appear out of place when they are wearing an expensive gown in the middle of the day, or we see outrageous presents given to each other.

Eventually Nick discovers how deep the darkness is. He finds some of Escobar's associates washing blood off themselves. He begins to see that some of the looks he's given are a bit on the threatening or intimidating side. It is uncomfortable, and as the situation changes for Escobar, so do the plans he has for Nick.

The last third of film deals with the way Nick has to find a way back so safety and escape the worst of fates. This film has some of the most exciting pieces I have seen in 2015, and the tension mounts, as Del Toro's quick directives to dictate Nick's ultimate fate. There are some chilling scenes where we hear Escobar's interactions with his family, while he juggles a change of plans in order to ensure the demise of his enemies.

It's not an epic masterpiece, but a good film that shows a dark period in Colombia, the depiction of a monster at his worst, wonderfully played by Del Toro, who is able to show whatever exists in the soul of this complex criminal. If you didn't know anything about this piece of history, you will definitely be interested by the time the film's last frame ends.