[yasr_overall_rating]
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 re-teams with the mercurial Alejandro.
I was blown away by “Sicario” upon its release back in 2015. It was raw, relentless, and unflinching in its depiction of the violence around the US/Mexico border where the drug cartels operate. Benicio del Toro and Josh Brolin were gritty and pretty much unstoppable in their single-minded pursuit of bringing the cartels to justice but it was Emily Blunt’s idealistic FBI agent, brought in to help these men in the war against drugs, that displayed the only facet of humanity. While we could somewhat relate to del Toro and Brolin, wanting to stop the bad guys, most of the time, they were apathetic in their approach, resulting in the loss of many lives along the way. While both men return for “Sicario: Day of the Soldado,” sadly, Blunt does not. Her morals are what kept her grounded and almost got her killed but she was the most identifiable character and is sorely missed this time around. With talk of a third “Sicario” film on the horizon, speculation is that she will return for that outing, and I sincerely hope she does.
As the movie begins, four immigrants make their way inside a grocery store within the United States and detonate bombs strapped to their chests. Scores of people are killed, including women and children and when the government discovers that the Mexican cartels are smuggling terrorists into the U.S., they call upon the one man who can help put a stop to it, Matt Graver (Josh Brolin), a CIA operative who runs shadowy operations around the world that not even the President is aware of. When the US government assigns him the task of starting a war between Mexico’s top two cartels, in the hopes that they will wipe each other out, Graver brings in his old friend and partner, Alejandro Gillick (Benicio del Toro), a South American undercover operative that has the ability to work both sides of the border. When they kidnap Isabela Reyes (Isabela Moner), the teenaged daughter of one of the cartel kingpins, and the man who killed Alejandro’s wife and daughter in the first film, they stay in a safe house on the Mexican side of the border. The plan is to wait for the Mexican police to come and escort them to the border but when they are ambushed, and Isabela escapes into the desert, Alejandro tells Graver to go on without him and that he will find her and get her into the US.
When Graver makes it back onto American soil, his boss, Cynthia Foards (Catherine Keener), shows him footage of him and his men killing the Mexican police that ambushed them and informs him that their mission is officially terminated. She reminds him that the sole purpose was to cross over into Mexico undetected, grab Isabela, and return, all without the Mexican government finding out but now with the killing of their policemen, corrupt or not, all missions have been suspended. When Graver tells her that Alejandro is searching for the girl and will bring her back, she informs him that the order from the top is to kill them both so there are no witnesses. Graver reluctantly calls Alejandro and tells him what’s going on and Alejandro understands that it is not Matt but his superiors giving the order. He states that he found Isabela and plans to do whatever it takes to get her safely across the border but when Matt advises him against taking that course of action, Alejandro hangs up on him. Now Matt has no choice but to enter Mexico and track them down with the sole intent of killing them both. With Alejandro cut off from supplies and resources, he formulates a strategy that should get him and Isabela into America but getting there, could be his most dangerous mission yet.
When it was announced that there would be a follow-up to “Sicario,” a lot of people were very apprehensive, especially considering that Emily Blunt, the heart and soul of the first movie, would not be returning. But fear not, “Sicario: Day of the Soldado” stands firmly on its own two feet, shoulder to shoulder with its predecessor, and every way as good as it. In “Sicario,” both Matt and Alejandro are presented as war-torn, embattled soldiers, willing to do whatever it takes to keep their country safe but both men have very little in the way of compassion and it almost defeats the whole purpose of fighting to keep their country and the people inside of it, safe. With Emily Blunt’s character nowhere to be found, towards the end of the movie, both Matt and Alejandro experience a change in their perceptions of what they’ve always felt was right. When Matt is told that he has to kill his friend, he immediately says no, but even when he is forced into the situation, he knows that his superiors are wrong but there’s nothing he can do about it. When Alejandro is ordered to kill Isabela, just like Matt, he immediately refuses, even though she is the daughter of the kingpin who had his own wife and daughter murdered in the first film. Both men, over the course of the story, develop a conscience, a very dangerous characteristic considering their line of work but it is believable, never once feeling forced.
Stefano Sollima takes over the directing duties from Denis Villeneuve and does an admirable job. He keeps the action and the tension flowing and manages to stay one step ahead of the audience for just as you think the story is going to go in one direction, it quickly diverges and goes in the complete opposite. The film is impeccably photographed by cinematographer Dariusz Wolski and the ominous soundtrack by composer Hildur Guðnadóttir is a constant reminder that in this world, there is very little in the way of levity or empathy. Taylor Sheridan, the writer of “Sicario” and the brilliant “Wind River” and“Hell or High Water,” presents new characters and scenarios that we have seen many times before in other movies but here, he instills character traits and attributes that feel fresh and original, a welcome relief to a genre that is quickly becoming tired and repetitive. If you enjoyed “Sicario” but are on the fence about seeing this, do yourself a favor and just go see it, I promise you, you won’t be disappointed.
In theaters Friday, June 29th
