Sicario: Day of the Soldado

We've seen films that centered on terrorist activity especially since the 9/11 tragedy, but terrorism includes so many other facets and people, namely the different cartels. As we saw in the predecessor of this film, "Sicario", terrorism is alive and living in Mexico, and other countries for that matter. So now we have "Sicario: Day of the Soldado" to continue the story of Mexico's violent underbelly.

 

In this film, the series begins a new chapter. In the drug war, there are no rules--and as the cartels have begun trafficking terrorists across the U.S. border, federal agent Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) calls on the mysterious Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro), whose family was murdered by a cartel kingpin, to escape the war in nefarious ways. Alejandro kidnaps the kingpin's daughter, Isabel Reyes (Isabela Moner) to inflame the conflict--but when the girl is seen as collateral damage, her fate will come between the two men as they question everything they are fighting for.

 

Others to round out the cast are Jeffrey Donovan as Steve Forsing, Manuel Garcia-Trulfo as Gallo, Elijah Rodriguez as Miguel Hernandez, Catherine Keener as Cynthia Foards, Matthew Modine as Secretary of Defense James Riley, Howard Ferguson Jr. as Troy, Shea Whigham as Andy Wheeldon, David Castaneda as Hector, Jacqueline Torres as Blandina, Raoul Max Trujillo as Rafael, Bruno Bichir as Angel and Jake Picking as Shawn.

 

This was as grittily directed as intensely as "Sicario" by Stefano Sollima ("A.C.A.B." '12, "Suburra" '15) plus TV and shorts. The predecessor of this, "Sicario", which was directed by the talented Denis Velleneuve was amazingly well paced and staged, so this filmmaker had big shoes to fill, and fill them he did. The effortless flow from one film to this one made one think it was directed by the same filmmaker, and this is expressly difficult. This director doesn't have the experience of Villenueva, however given time and more work, he will become more and more in demand. It was amazingly well written by Taylor Sheridan ("Sicario" '15, "Hell or High Water" '16, "Wind River" '17) plus TV, based on characters created by Sheridan. It couldn't have been difficult for Sheridan to write this since he wrote "Sicario"--he had already created the characters, the basic storyline along with the grittiness, however it does convey the story easier to the audience when the writing style is identical. Where Sheridan lacks in an expressed resume, he more than makes up for in quality. Look at his resume! It's stunning! If this writer wrote the contents on a cereal box, I believe it would be interesting--his style is that captivating. Other than a couple of very small places in script, this story rocks, but how could this film go wrong with both Brolin and Del Toro in the leading roles?

 

If intense, political, explosive dramas are your thing, you'll love this, but even if they aren't, this would definitely be worthy of price of admission just for the performances by Brolin, Del Toro, and even the ensemble cast, not to mention Sheridan's gripping writing. Hold on, this is going to be a bumpy ride.

 

Out of 4 Stars: 3.5                                        Rated: R                                           122mins.