Sicario: Day of the Soldado

When the original Sicario came out in 2015, it took most people by surprise, including myself. 

Looking back over the years, it's the thriller that I perhaps hold highest and judge others off of and it was the film that put Denis Villeneuve in my "Must-See Directors" category. One of which he only continues to solidify and build his ranks within. 

The original was not only an engrossing story, but a technical marvel. The cinematography from Roger Deakins was so perfect that I still have certain images burnt into my mind, the original score was brilliantly composed high-tension, drawn out notes, and the editing and pacing were similarly nearly perfect. 

Sicario was a great film made perfect because it was crafted with so much skill. 

When a sequel was first announced, I automatically assumed it was a direct-to-home cheap tie-in that wouldn't add much value. Seeing that Del Toro and Brolin were along for the ride helped to change that narrative a bit but the corny "sequel" name wasn't getting me to a spot where I could see it being in the same playing field as its Instant Classic predecessor. Furthering that concept was the fact that neither director Villeneuve, actress Emily Blunt, or cinematographer Roger Deakins were along for the ride; all obviously a huge loss from a talent perspective. 

Sicario: Day of the Soldado isn't a direct-to-home sequel -- it's far better than that -- and it sets out to be a continuation in a broad-stroke sense. You could see this one with no knowledge of the first and be basically in the same spot as everyone in the theater, which is great, but it also doesn't ask my question: why does this sequel need to exist? 

Perhaps I'm being unnecessarily protective over the 2015 original classic, but it never once seemed like a film that needed/warranted a sequel to me, much less one that's hardly tied to it. That makes it somewhat clear to me then that the addition of the "Sicario" in the title here is mainly to ride the goodwill and hype from the first film to drive this one's success. I suppose that's fine and with Brolin and Del Toro back, it doesn't feel like a complete betrayal, but the film, despite its quality, can't hold a candle to what came before it. 

"Why are you staring at my chin?"

The most efficient way to shoot a gun?

Day of the Soldado does a lot well, most of which it shares with the original. Villenueve and Deakins may be gone, but the direction and cinematography are still strong components of the film. A theme throughout this review will be "but not as ___ as the first one" and that goes here too. We pick up our story, penned by Taylor Sheridan, as the U.S. has just suffered a grisly terrorist attack and it's discovered one of the attackers was smuggled across the Mexican border by the Cartel. The film is often unflinching in its brutality and I found the terrorist attack particularly disturbing because of the film's dedication to authenticity. This initial premise was supremely interesting to me because it seems like a logical and real, scary possibility. The potential for the Cartel and ISIS to be coordinating in some fashion? Pretty intense stuff. Through some plot points that I won't divulge here, the film eventually loses a lot of steam as it becomes all about getting a girl back to the U.S. across the border. Day of the Soldado doesn't get "bad" here by any means, but once a lot of the geopolitical plot points are removed and boiled down to "save the girl", it feels kind of unnatural and cliched.

Benicio Del Toro remains interesting as the U.S.-utilized assassin and continues to kick quite a bit of ass while Josh Brolin, continuing his insanely big year, is captivating as a knowledgeable, no-nonsense leader. Both interact well together and bring a lot of gravitas to the the film and it's certainly good to have them back. Surprisingly, I didn't miss Emily Blunt as much as I thought I would but it would have been intriguing to have her character fit in in some way. She was a bit of a "fish out of water" in the first film as her bad-ass character learned just how dirty you have to play with the Cartel, but I understand why she wasn't prominent here.

Along the way we're treated to some intense moments of action and suspense, all while a pulse-pounding original score, not dissimilar to the original's, plays overhead. Yeah, unfortunately here too the whole "first movie did it better" still exists, but there are a handful of moments that may have you on the edge of your seat. A particular convoy development was probably the highlight of the film for me and in a way reminded me of the superb "Border Crossing" scene in the original. 

"Are you looking at my chin too? What the hell?"

Sicario: Day of the Soldado is a totally unnecessary sequel by pure definition alone, but I'm not unhappy that it exists. Part of me wants to see another film in order to round out a trilogy (and perhaps another appearance by Blunt). The quality is better than most thrillers these days which is testament to a lot of new players behind the scenes this time around and although the film really lost steam for me once it veered away from the complications/possibilities of an ISIS and Cartel alliance, it was still far better than the initial "straight to DVD" reaction I first had.

CONS

• The eventual "save the girl" subplot felt like it wasn't where the best version of this movie would go. The film lost steam for me here
• Overlong by about 10 minutes. Lots of scenes where characters have elongated actions (i.e. staring or turning their head slowly) that could have been cut
• Doesn't quite capture the same intense magic of the original and in general is still an unnecessary sequel

PROS

• While it may not be a technical marvel, it's still a well made film. The editing is crisp, the cinematography has some stand-out moments, and the original score adds a lot to the intensity
• Captivating plot for most of the runtime
• Brolin and Del Toro are just as good here as they were in the original. Both are characters we want to see more of
• Intense, realistic action
• Unflinching in its brutality
• A better sequel than many of us expected

Rath's Review Score | 7.5/10