Sicario 2: Soldado (2018)

Review

122min

Genre:       Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller

Director:    Stefano Sollima

Cast:         Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin, Isabela Moner…and more

Writer:      Taylor Sheridan

-Synopsis-

As the ill-fated US ‘war on drugs’ escalates with the Mexican border as the battlefield, and with a new administration willing to pour fuel on the fire, former sicario ‘Alejandro’ and CIA stooge ‘Matt Graver’ return to start a war between the ruthless Mexican drug cartels—only for things to take a turn and reveal the sobering human consequences of this deadly game, in this timely continuation of 2015’s ‘Sicario’.

Whilst 2015’s outstanding ‘Sicario’ opened American eyes to the brutality and futility of the US ‘war on drugs’, and the horrors happening on their border and just across it, in gritty, moody and slick style, ‘Sicario 2: Soldado’ ups the scale and raises the stakes—as Italian director Stefano Sollima (Suburra, Gomorrah) steps into Denis Villeneuve’s considerable filmmaking shoes, crafting a more straight down-the-line crime thriller while adding human drama through character’s we’ve become familiar with . . . and some new ones too.

Josh Brolin returns as clandestine CIA operator Matt Graver, brought back to the drug war fold after international terrorism duty, and given free rein to stir up Mexican cartel conflict for US interests. When he naturally turns to former assassin and trusted Latin American asset Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro)—still hell-bent on revenge himself—mayhem is unleashed on the streets of Mexico, but the devil fools with best laid plans when things go awry with the kidnapping of a cartel kingpin’s daughter (Isabela Moner), as both men are put on a collision course with those they fight, those they answer to . . . and each other.

Following up such an expertly crafted contemporary crime thriller like ‘Sicario’, and one which certainly didn’t feel like it needed a sequel, was always going to be a daunting task for Sollima, particularly without the masterful photographic talents of Roger Deakins to lean on. Yet Sollima can count on his own experienced cinematographer Dariusz Wolski (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, The Martian) to vividly capture the action, whilst taking the narrative down a broader and even more timely road—building the story on the twin pillars of drug smuggling and illegal migration but adding a dose of human trafficking and international terrorism, while stirring it all in the pot of global geopolitical unrest.

Thanks to its narrative choices and by sheer virtue of being a sequel, ‘Sicario 2: Soldado’ just doesn’t have the impact of its predecessor. Gone is most of the novelty and much of the intrigue in terms of the story and the setting, and it doesn’t quite set the ominous mood or boast the menacing quality we experienced with ‘Sicario’, thanks largely to a combination of the exquisite cinematography and a foreboding score from Jóhann Jóhannsson.

Yet it still manages to maintain much of the tension of its forbearer, ramping up the scale of the action set-pieces and taking the film deeper into combat territory, living up to its title of ‘Soldado’ (Spanish for soldier) while keeping the violence suitably gritty, brutal and unflinching.

Without Emily Blunt as the empathic beacon of reason to lead the audience down the rabbit hole of criminal madness, Sollima and returning writer Taylor Sheridan take to further humanising returning stars Brolin and Del Toro to anchor the movie and connect with the audience, with Josh Brolin somehow making a callous and sleazy CIA operative likeable, and completing a trinity of films which makes 2018 the ‘year of the Brolin’. Meanwhile as the revenge-seeking assassin who turns a corner, Benicio Del Toro becomes the moral heart of the piece, in the process depriving the character of his enigmatic quality and moving him into international spy territory—perhaps setting this up as a ‘Sicario’ series akin to the ‘Bourne’ franchise . . . only far less action-packed.

Yet in spite of a slightly predictable narrative which at times even flirts with being emotionally clichéd, and despite losing major momentum in the second act, before picking it back up in the third, ‘Sicario 2: Soldado’ is tense and gripping enough to keep you invested throughout, and well-crafted enough to keep you entertained, making for a solid if unspectacular up-to-the-minute crime drama . . . which reflects the dark days in which we seem to live.

With ‘Sicario 2: Soldado’ Sony seem to be moving towards a potential crime series, even encroaching on serialised drama territory, stretching existing characters and their back stories as far as possible while introducing new ones, perhaps even carving a place for itself as a cinematic companion piece for hit Netflix show ‘Narcos’, particularly when you consider where that series is going. Time and box office results will tell if audiences show the appetite or the interest for yet another studio franchise, yet despite the narrative potential of the complex and never-ending ‘war on drugs’, we can’t help but think that Denis Villeneuve’s masterful 2015 original will prove as good as it gets.

The Bottom Line…

Although not as eye-opening, impactful, unpredictable or utterly compelling as the 2015 original, ‘Sicario 2: Soldado’ is still slick and riveting enough to make for a solid contemporary crime thriller which takes full advantage of the timely nature of the narrative—made to work by the charisma of its two stars and the steady hand of a director with legitimate crime drama chops . . . although only time will tell if it proves a successful series-starter.

Similar films you may like (Home Video)

Sicario (2015)

Emily Blunt stars as an ambitious FBI agent whose moral compass is challenged by a complex US government operation to fight the escalating so-called ‘war on drugs’, as legal and moral lines are blurred no one can be trusted if you want to survive the lawless cartel-controlled war zones of northern Mexico.

Directed by Denis Villeneuve and starring Emily Blunt, Benicio Del Toro and Josh Brolin among others.

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