Sicario 2: Day of the Soldado

CIA Agent Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) is reassigned from Somalia to Mexico by the US government for a covert mission – to start a war between the Mexican cartels. Choosing his team carefully he enlists the help of black operative Alejandro Gillick (Benecio Del Toro) who has his own reasons for vengeance upon the cartels.

’…picks up both the spirit and the tone of the first movie.'

Director Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Sicario’ was a surprise hit with gritty performances from Emily Blunt’s newcomer Kate Macer and Del Toro’s deadpan Alejandro Gillick, coupled with Roger Deakin’s amazing cinematography. Happily ‘Sicario 2: Day of the Soldado’ picks up both the spirit and the tone of the first movie. In the very capable hands of ‘Gomorrah’ director Stephano Sollima and another script by ‘Hell or High Water’s’ Taylor Sheridan, ‘Sicario 2’ is a very taunt and solid film.

Thankfully avoiding the obvious mistake of introducing another rookie agent into the story, both the scriptwriter and director have gone another way by charting the dramas of a covert war. Instead of repeating the first film, this movie focuses on competing personal agendas and political policy (albeit from a delivered from deniable distance). In terms of its acting both Brolin and Del Toro deliver dependable, gritty portrayals as field operatives who both find themselves on the sharp end of a very dirty war.

When its end finally comes, ‘Sicario 2’ is a sequel that leaves you with an emotionally appetising conclusion. Begging for a further chapter, both Brolin and Del Toro’s characters have room to grow by its end. Suffused with same ponding score and intense visuals as the first movie, ’Sicario 2’ is not a cheap cash-in on what went before but another electric thriller that decently delivers on the promise of the original.