Review of Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018) by Jluis_001 — 29 Jun 2018

We have come to another case in which a sequel that could be considered unnecessary reaches the cinemas.

Although it's true that the story itself didn't need a continuation, I was interested and pleased to know that a sequel was in the works because Sicario was a really good film.

I'm aware that many alarms went on with Emily Blunt's absence but for me there wasn't really a problem because I knew both Josh Brolin and Benicio del Toro could easily lead this new story.

It was also confirmed that Taylor Sheridan would return to write the script but a monumental piece of the original film wasn't going to be involved, I'm talking about Denis Villeneuve.

So now with the results at hand one should ask the most obvious question: His absence affected this film? Yes it did.

Sicario: Day of The Soldier expands the story of the characters of both Josh Brolin and Benicio del Toro, they're now involved in a new battle against the Mexican drug cartels that now seems to be involved with terrorism.

With that kind of theme you get a brutal, dark and violent story, however, even though Sheridan's script is good, it's not up to his original, especially because now it relies a lot more in the action sequences and the conflict feels a lot more thin.

The film also feels hurried and compacted, trying to justify its existence and even though the story ends up on the right track it never got a real momentum or a truly emotional point.

These elements end up hurting the film and its final part proves it by not granting any kind of resolution for any of the characters and even worse the story ends up open which is very upsetting.

The trailers already called it the new installment of the Sicario saga so I can easily predict there will be a third film, although the numbers at the box office will play an important role in that decision.

In the end what I can say is that I think the film was good but it's far from having the quality of its predecessor however I think it's worth it because the performances of both del Toro and Brolin are pretty good. The music is tense and atmospheric and to me the cinematography was also quite good.

The film itself feels like a minor heir but I do think it's worth the shot.

I'm definitely interested in a third installment because I would love to get some resolutions but I honestly hope and want better results.