Crime Thriller

SICARIO 2: DAY OF THE SOLDADO

CAST: Benicio del Toro, Josh Brolin, Isabella Moner, Jeffrey Donovan

DIRECTION: Stefano Sollima

 

 

2018 is shaping up to be the year of sequels. First, it was ‘Dead­pool 2’ in May, followed by ‘The Incredibles 2’ in June. Gener­ally, sequels have a bad repute of unnecessarily trying to cash in on the popularity of their predecessors and getting away by doing pretty much the same thing all over again. But in the case of ‘Deadpool 2’ and ‘The Incredibles 2’ this didn’t apply. These follow-ups were no cheap knock-offs, and shoulder to shoul­der with their respective originals. And now ‘Sicario 2: Day of the Soldado’ gives us yet another reason to believe that a sequel can stand on its own. This second chapter retains the brooding demeanor of 2015’s “war on drugs” thriller ‘Sicario’ even though some key players from the original are missing. One nota­ble absence is director Denis Ville­neuve, who is known for his ability to elicit tension through his moody and minimalist direction.

 

‘Sicario 2’ has been directed by Italian filmmaker Stefano Sollima, who’s mostly known for his Italian crime drama ‘Gomorrah’ where Sollima’s anything but minimalist and draws towards excessive display of blood, gore and violence. The screenplay by Taylor Sheridan is more plot-driven this time and gives Sollima the opportunity to showcase his visual craft without departing from the original film’s muted tone.

 

‘Sicario 2’ opens with a series of terrorist suicide bombings in the US, which compel its government to seek the expertise of special CIA agent Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) who looks harmless in his cargo shorts and sandals but has questionable methods when it comes to infiltrat­ing his enemies. The government believes Mexican drug cartels are allowing Islamic terrorists to cross the border into US.

 

Graver’s given full authority to take care of the problem and play dirty if need be. He comes up with the idea of kidnapping a Mexi­can drug lord’s daughter (Isabella Moner) and make it look like the handiwork of a rival cartel leader, which would ultimately lead to a war between the cartels and favor the US government. To carry out the kid­napping, Graver recruits one of his most trusted and mysterious opera­tives, Alejandro (Benicio del Toro). But when their mission suffers a major setback—the US government finds itself at a risk of exposure for its unethical mission—Alejandro’s loyalty to his boss Graver is tested.

 

As the plot suggests, ‘Sicario 2’ develops more in the vein of action-adventure thrillers like the ‘Jason Bourne’ or ‘Mission Impos­sible’ series. It’s a drastic narrative change from the first ‘Sicario’ that was more a slow-burn mystery. Sol­lima handles the transition well. He’s able to orchestrate his action with a sense of unpredictability that keeps us on the edge of our seats throughout. The film is exquisitely shot by cinematographer Dariusz Wolski and hauntingly scored by Hildur Gudnadottir.

 

Del Toro and Brolin are two heavy­weight actors ably lifting the film on their capable shoulders. Del Toro has a hypnotic presence as Ale­jandro. The only backstory we get about Alejandro is that he used to work for the Mexican cartels before they killed his family. Graver has since been using Alejandro’s wrath for Mexican cartels to fuel his own agenda. Graver is really as a chame­leon: Mr. Nice Guy on the outside but underneath a person who can to any extreme to get what he wants.

 

Amid these seasoned performers is teenager Isabella Moner. Moner is feisty when we first meet her, beating up her classmate for cat calling her. As she slowly bonds with her kidnapper, Alejandro, she peels off her hardened edges and sees a father figure. Alejandro on the other hand sees his dead daughter in her.

‘Sicario 2’ benefits from the stellar acting and pulsating tension of the narrative. It may not be as cerebral and ambiguous as the first film. It does, however, intrigue and packs in plenty of surprises to make it a worthy sequel. Even when the film’s political ambitions are a bit muddled and stretched, it never fails as an action thriller.

 

 

Who should watch it?

‘Sicario 2’ is rated ‘A’ for violence and some may find it disturbing. But the film will be an ideal outing for viewers who want a taut thriller with plenty of violence.