Sicario: Day of the Soldado

This was not a movie I, or I can argue a lot of people, were really pushing for. The first Sicario film in my opinion is a master piece of a film. The trailers for its sequel seemed good but there was also a feeling of it being a cash grab and capitalizing on a super successful movie. I thought Emily Blunt and Denis Villeneuve were two vital parts to the first film and while I didn't want Emily Blunt's character to return in the sequel as her arc was seemingly complete in the first film, I couldn't really imagine a sequel without her.

Nonetheless, I was still really interested in this film and I've been playing a lot of Ghost Recon Wildlands, a game in which I think was directly inspired by the first movie. That along with the visceral feeling I got out of The Punisher, I thought this would be a perfect movie to watch based on the types of stories I've been interested in lately.

Sicario: Day of the Soldado follows two of the main characters from the first Sicario film, Matt Graver, the brutal ends justify the means CIA officer (played by Josh Brolin). And Alejandro Gillick, the former lawyer turned CIA trained hitman who has a beef with the cartels who murdered his family (played by Benicio Del Toro).

After some brutal terrorists attacks (that they do not shy away from at all) on US soil, the United States government decides to let loose Matt Graver and the CIA in Mexico to start a war between the cartels. The plan is to kidnap the daughter of a cartel boss (played by Isabela Moner), who just so happens to be the one that killed Gillick's family, and start a war between his cartel and the others.

Probably the best parts of the movie are these two working together and playing off each other. I thought that there would be a piece missing if you didn't have that Emily Blunt character who is the naive lawful good of the bunch but they do a pretty good job at making these characters interesting, even without that relatable character. I have to go back and watch the first Sicario because I don't know if they are exactly the same characters and of course I don't think they have that same magnetic characters draw in than they did before, but I think it works for this film.

The other thing this movie was able to do was make me interested in seeing more Sicario sequels. I don't want them to go to nuts and I would only want to see it if they really had a story to tell, but while the movie is not nearly as polished and great as the first, I still really enjoyed watching this world and would love to see more of it and that's mostly due to the actors involved.

I do think Josh Brolin might be one of the best actors working today and I think he needs to be given more roles. I think 2018 was his dark brooding year as he played this guy, Thanos and Cable in Deadpool 2, but I thoroughly enjoyed all those roles as well as this one. He plays such a dark but also complicated character. In the first film it was a great foil against the lawful good of Emily Blunt, but in this there's a little more depth and I enjoyed it.

I think these Sicario movies run a pretty good balance between high intensity, raw action and real dramatic moments. While I think this movie shows that they're going to lean more towards the action side of things if there's a future to these movies, which I will talk about later. But I think they still could delve into these characters more, especially Matt Graver.

So this movie serves a couple of purposes and one of them I think was to give Benecio Del Toro his middle age to old man and a teenage girl in a truck movie. Think Logan or The Last of Us if you don't know what I'm talking about.

I do think the best moments are the moments between Del Toro's character and Brolin's character, but when he's on his own, it does show that Alejandro Gillick is a complex character that I think definitely has a future in a future film.

I've always had mixed feelings about Benecio Del Toro and the choices he makes. He has such a range and he can go from a quiet killer in this film, to a weird character like the Collector in the Marvel films or whatever his character was in The Last Jedi. I forgot how much I'm interested in this lawyer turned hitman and I enjoyed him in this film.

Isabela Moner has a pretty bright future ahead of her. It's going to be a little weird next year seeing her play Dora the Explorer because in this film she is this terrified girl kind of along for the ride and she has to react to some pretty horrific experiences and she does a good job.

I think one thing I'd change looking back is develop the relationship more between her and Gillick. There's a point in this movie where the plot hinges on the relationship these two have created and while I believe part of it, I don't really see that connection that changes everything without giving spoilers.

I think as a whole I enjoyed this movie, but I do think there are two big elements that kept this movie from being anywhere close to the first film. The first is that the movie is a little uneven in how it's structured and I swear it just seems to stop at a certain point without to me a proper climax. As the movie was finishing up, I looked at the time stamp and I realized there wasn't much left and I felt like there should be. I get the feeling they're leaving some more of the story for the third movie (which I hate), but I was kind of left wanting more.

But I think on top of not feeling really complete, this movie just didn't feel new in any way. I'm not saying that makes it totally bad, I just don't think I'm going to remember it that much. The first film was gritty, it was raw, and it had characters you really cared about. This film has some of that, its for sure got the raw action, but I don't know if it takes all those ingredients and really makes something worth while in my opinion. This movie felt more like a set up for a larger climax in a third movie that I really hope will be a lot better.

And that's really where we're at right now. There is going to be a third movie to this film series and I'm not nearly as opposed to that as I was when I watched the first film. I think if anything, the fact that this movie was not nearly as solid as the first makes me hope that they learn from their mistakes and make a really solid third and final film that wraps up all the loose ends.

Again, I think raw action is good, its a staple of these movies. But I think what I want to see is actual care taken with these characters and bring their development to a hedge. I imagine the next film is going to pit Josh Brolin and Benecio Del Toro against one another and they'd be dumb not to take that opportunity. But make it an actually good complex movie, not just the Call of Duty movie we're never going to get.

Overall, it's a little bit of a mixed bag with Sicario 2, but I enjoyed a lot of it, a lot more than I thought I was going to. I think overall, this movie shows that Sicario can be a franchise while still giving me at least a little hope that it doesn't have to be a cash grab, that there can actually be good stories told. Only time will tell if they actually do that with the third film, but I think if you're a fan of the first film, you will probably still enjoy the sequel.

But what did you think of Sicario: Day of the Soldado (I still don't really know what that title means)? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @MovieSymposium as well as send me your requests for films I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.

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