Escobar: Paradise Lost

The movie contains a subtly crazed performance from Benicio del Toro as Escobar: one moment fooling around with his children in the hacienda swimming pool, fondling his gold taps, the next executing his enemies.

Surprisingly forgettable considering its mesmering villain, although Del Toro sparks the movie into life with what screentime he does get.

Every time del Toro's onscreen, you're so blown away that you end up angry at what might have been.

Hutcherson - blandly conflicted, woodenly agonised - is just too blank for the screen time he sucks up.

Escobar: Paradise Lost, as promising as it often is, feels like two barely connected half-movies.

[Del Toro is] really very good here, as he almost always is, no matter the quality of the film around him. The rest of the movie? Not so much.

“Escobar: Paradise Lost” has many well-written, acted, and directed scenes. Unfortunately, it’s all they are: a disconnected and randomized compilation of brilliant scenes, the sum of whose parts don’t form a satisfying whole.

An entertaining and suitably gruesome gangster thriller which nevertheless feels like a missed opportunity. Benicio del Toro is suitably weighty and fascinating in the lead role.

Here Del Toro imposes his presence every time he enters the frame. [Full review in Spanish]

... it illustrates the power that Escobar had, who could even dispose of the forces of order for his purposes. [Full review in Spanish]