I took part in the wild ride that was the first Sicario. Now I’m happy to report that the second installment, Sicario: Day of the Soldado, was just as suspenseful and jam-packed with action as the first.
The drug war on the US-Mexico border has escalated as the cartels have begun trafficking terrorists across the US border. To fight the war, federal agent Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) re-teams with the mercurial Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro). So the difference between the original and the sequel? No rules.
It’s a difficult feat to pull off mixing action and suspense but, Sicario has done it twice. Part of that build up has a lot to do with the soundtrack. The deep, almost bass level horns create a build-up that’s akin to EDM heads waiting for the beat to drop.
Now that the U.S. Government has chosen to take matters into their own hands, they’ve left the move up to Graver to start a war with rivaling cartels. The talking heads in D.C. don’t know how to start such a conflict so they leave it up to Graver. He explains the best route to take is to kidnap the daughter of the Reyes cartel and blame it on a rival.
So far, everything is going as planned. They find Isabel Reyes (Isabela Moner) at school, kidnap her, and take off. Everything is fine and pretty predictable at this point thanks to the trailers. The drama begins when the extraction hits a roadblock of logistical problems and lines being drawn. It’s your everyday hoodwinking!
This film has it all: action, suspense, drama, plot twists and all the like. There’s only one scene toward the end with Benicio where I was like, “Really… Really?” But aside from that, awesome movie. Pay attention to all the characters from beginning to end. (You can also listen to the review on our new podcast channel with bonus content)
I give Sicario: Day of the Soldado a 9 out of 10. When I say it’s awesome, I mean it is a-w-e-s-o-m-e. It’s the summer thriller we’ve been needing and it delivers. The best part about the film is that you can see this for the first time without having seen the first. The Brolin-Benicio combo wins yet again, and when they win, we win.
-Jon J.