Review of Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018) by Andri K — 04 Jan 2019

Strengths: Led by Denis Vilenueve, the first Sicario was great. This one returned some of what made that one click. Benicio Del Toro (Alejandro Gillick) and Josh Brolin (Matt Graver) are both back and both are very good. They understand their characters. Del Toro is especially great. Isabela Moner (Isabel Reyes) is also very good, especially considering her age. Thereâ(TM)s an intensity to many of the scenes and having a child involved added to the stakes. I thought the cinematography was a positive element. It added a lot to the dark tone of the film and made it feel enough like the original. The violence throughout was also used well. It never felt like it was there for shock value, instead being efficient and effective.

Weaknesses: Ultimately, it never felt like there was a real reason for this sequel. Itâ(TM)s kind of just there for the sake of it. Like, this story didnâ(TM)t need to be told. The bigger issue is the pacing. For a two hour movie, it felt closer to three as there were many scenes that seemed placed in odd points. It made things drag from time to time. Even so, the biggest issue might be how the final act falls flat. Something bigger needed to go down in the end and it just never seemed to get there.

Overall: I thought this was a good watch for the most part. It is tense and features solid acting. It just suffers from pacing issues and a lackluster final act.