Sicario: Day of the Soldado review

SICARIO: DAY OF THE SOLDADO:

A POINTLESS BUT WORTHY FOLLOW-UP WITH PLENTY OF STAR-POWER AND EXTREME VIOLENCE!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

COLUMBIA PICTURES

It’s about to get real at the U.S.-Mexico border in Sicario: Day of the Soldado

            Benicio del Toro (Sin City, Guardians of the Galaxy, Star Wars: The Last Jedi) and Josh Brolin (True Grit (2010), Avengers: Infinity War, Deadpool 2) are back in the sequel to the critically-acclaimed thriller, Sicario. The first film released in 2015 was directed by Denis Villeneuve, who would later go on to direct Arrival and Blade Runner 2049 and starred Emily Blunt as an FBI agent teaming up with a government agency to bring down the leader of a powerful Mexican drug cartel.

            Sicario was very well received by both critics and audiences when it came out, was nominated for three Oscars, and felt very self-contained the moment the credits rolled. And now we have a sequel, Sicario: Day of the Soldado with Stefano Sollima (ACAB-All Cops Are Bastards, Suburra, Romanzo criminale-La serie) taking over as director and del Toro and Brolin reprising their roles from the first film as hitman, Alejandro Gillick and CIA agent, Matt Graver.

            When the sequel was first announced I rolled my eyes and was like “Seriously, why do a sequel to Sicario, nothing about it really screams franchise?” and the lack of Emily Blunt wasn’t helping much. Nevertheless, I had some interest in seeing how the sequel would turn out plus we got del Toro and Brolin back, both of which always knock it out of the park.

            How does Sicario: Day of the Soldado hold up compared to its predecessor? Not as good but it isn’t half bad either. Yes, this is a pointless sequel, but it’s got an interesting story that’s arguably more complex than the plot of the first film, Benicio del Toro and Josh Brolin’s performances are incredible, and still has a lot of brutality and heavy violence.

            After a catastrophic suicide bombing in a grocery store, the U.S. government gives CIA agent, Matt Graver (Brolin) the greenlight to combat Mexican drug cartels who are suspected of transporting Islamic terrorists across the border. Graver and the DHS decide the best option is to start a war with the drug cartels and recruit sicario (hitman), Alejandro Gillick (del Toro) to take extreme measures.

            Alejandro kidnaps the kingpin’s daughter, a little girl named Isabela Reyes (Isabela Moner-100 Things to Do Before High School, Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life, Transformers: The Last Knight) to inflame the conflict but when she is seen as collateral damage, her fate will be chosen between Graver and Gillick as they question everything they are fighting for.

            The film also stars Jeffrey Donovan (Burn Notice, Hitch, Changeling) as Steve Forsing, Manuel Garcia Rulfo (Cake, From Dusk till Dawn: The Series, The Magnificent Seven) as Gallo, Catherine Keener (Being John Malkovich, Capote, Get Out) as Cynthia Foards, Matthew Modine (Full Metal Jacket, Short Cuts, Stranger Things) as James Riley, Shea Whigham (Boardwalk Empire, Fast & Furious franchise, Kong: Skull Island) as Andy Wheeldon, David Castaneda (Switched at Birth) as Hector, Raoul Trujillo (The New World, Apocalypto, Riddick) as Rafael, Bruno Bichir (Under Fire, Death and the Compass, Julia) as Angel, and Jake Picking (The Way, Way Back, Only the Brave, Blockers) as Shawn.

            Overall, Sicario: Day of the Soldado is a solid follow-up that probably didn’t need to exist and delivers exactly what it promises. Like its predecessor, the film has heavy and realistic-looking violence, an interesting premise, and powerhouse performances by Josh Brolin and Benicio del Toro who pretty much make the movie.

            Every time they’re on-screen del Toro and Brolin give it their all and when you really get down to it they’re not really playing the “Good guys” here. They are the protagonists and they’re trying to stop a drug war but at the same time both of them do some pretty nasty things to achieve it throughout the film.

             What I really appreciate about the film is that it doesn’t remind us constantly about the events of the first film like a lot of sequels do. Aside from maybe a reference here or there the movie stands on its own surprisingly well, though I would still recommend watching the first one over this.

            Day of the Soldado is a good sequel, but I felt the first movie was better in execution, I was more invested in the story and characters, the brutal violence and twists were more shocking, and the chemistry between Emily Blunt, Benicio del Toro, and Josh Brolin was absolutely flawless. Nothing about it screamed sequel and franchise, and despite enjoying the second movie I’m still puzzled as to why it was given a sequel, the first one wasn’t a huge box-office hit and the ending pretty much wrapped everything up.

            This one feels like a decent sequel that suffers from an identity crisis, nobody was really asking for a franchise out of Sicario and this movie seems pointless in existing. Unlike the first one which had a self-contained ending this one ends on a cliffhanger for a third movie, this felt like franchise building rather than a sequel.

            If you enjoyed the first one, you’ll probably enjoy Sicario: Day of the Soldado, it isn’t perfect, but it certainly is brutal, engaging, and powerfully acted. A satisfying third film in the Summer of Brolin following Deadpool 2 and Avengers: Infinity War.