Review: Sicario: Day of the Soldado a less subtle, but just as powerful sequel

DON’T come to Day of the Soldado expecting a traditional or straightforward sequel to the excellent 2015 film Sicario. But what you’ll find something just as powerful.

DON’T come to Day of the Soldado expecting a traditional or straightforward sequel to Sicario.

That movie, you may recall, was one of the finest released in 2015: a report from the front lines of America’s long-running war on drugs, with casualties continually piling up either side of the Texas-Mexico border.

While the principal location remains the same in Day of the Soldado, the change of direction executed here is instantly noted.

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L-R: Josh Brolin, Jeffrey Donovan and Benicio Del Toro in a scene from film Sicario: Day of the Soldado

Now that Sicario’s lead character played by Emily Blunt is no longer part of the mix, there has been a complete withdrawal of all hope, feeling or empathy.

All that remains in Day of the Soldado is a complete and damning declaration of despair.

The overall impact achieved is a lot less subtle than the first movie, but often, just as powerful.

An aggressive opening act projects a hellish vision of the Tex-Mex border that is no longer simply all about the movement of drugs.

The major Mexican cartels are now putting a foot down on the barbwire and letting through terrorists of all colours, creeds and callings. Money is money, regardless of whether you’re trafficking cocaine or suicide bombers.

Up in Washington D.C., the call goes out to CIA black-ops specialist Matt Graver (Josh Brolin). This taciturn government spook already knows what must be done, but needs to know if he will be able to “play dirty” while doing so.

Josh Brolin in a scene from film Sicario: Day of the Soldado

“Dirty,” responds the Secretary of Defense (Matthew Modine), “is exactly why you are here.”

A clean imprimatur to ignore the letter of the law clears the way for Graver to once again enlist the services of the shadowy Central American rogue enforcer Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro).

A former lawyer by trade, Alejandro’s preference for life on the dark side makes him the perfect ally in Graver’s highly illicit plan to provoke the cartels into turning upon each other.

The daughter (Isabela Moner) of a leading drug lord is abducted by a team spearheaded by Graver. As luck would have it, the same drug lord was the one who called the fatal hits on Alejandro’s late wife and child.

Now Alejandro — isolated out of necessity from Graver’s outfit deep inside enemy territory in Mexico — is the sole protector of the child of his bitter foe.

What follows is a hyper-tense, hard-hitting blend of modern action film tropes, topped off with the classic good-versus-evil showdowns of an old-fashioned spaghetti western.

It should not work half as well as it actually does, and it all comes down to the grimly amoral gravity wielded by Brolin and Del Toro throughout.

Josh Brolin (gun drawn, at centre) in a scene from film Sicario: Day of the Soldado

SICARIO: DAY OF THE SOLDADO (MA15+)

Rating: Four stars (4 out of 5)

Director: Stefano Sollima (Suburra)

Starring: Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin, Isabela Moner, Jeffrey Donovan, Catherine Keener.

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