Directed by: Stefano Sollima
Starring: Josh Brolin, Benicio del Toro, Isabela Moner, Catherine Keener, Matthew Modine, Jeffrey Donovan
Sicario: Day of the Soldado, like its 2015 predecessor, starts strongly, slows in the middle, and then is nearly undone by an ending I just couldn't buy. I found the 2015 film to be too sluggish and never gaining any true momentum. The sequel has more moments in which we think we are on the road to something special, but then backs off. It is frustrating because the better parts crackle with suspense and contain some strong, nuanced performances by Brolin and del Toro, who both have to make decisions which will negatively impact the other.
The film unfolds with terrorists setting off suicide bombs in Kansas City and at the U.S./Mexico border. The connection is the terrorists worked their way across the border with help of powerful Mexican drug cartels. CIA agent Matt Graver (Brolin) goes to Somalia to find out what's what and threatens a suspect not with torture, but with bombing of his home and family. The suspect makes the mistake of thinking Graver is bluffing. He most assuredly is not.
Defense Secretary Riley (Modine) summons Graver to Washington, DC and instructs him to start a war between the Mexican cartels by any means necessary. Graver calls on the deadly Alejandro (del Toro) to help him "get dirty". Their plan involves kidnapping the daughter of Carlos Reyes, the leader of the most powerful cartel, who Alejandro has been seeking revenge against for years for the murder of his family. Another cartel will be blamed for the kidnapping and the fireworks will begin. But, things go south, and Alejandro is caught behind enemy lines with Isabela (Moner) in tow. Isabela is wise beyond her years and deduces the situation long before Alejandro has to explain it to her.
Sicario: Day of the Soldado slows to a halt during the middle at a point when things should be heating up. We learn more about Alejandro, his past (he was once an attorney who turned hitman after his family's murder), and how he still nurtures paternal instincts for Isabela even when he shouldn't. del Toro masterfully works these touches to Alejandro while still retaining the mystery which surrounds him. I also enjoyed the wise, mature performance of Moner, who infuses Isabela with innate intelligence and perception.
Without giving away the ending, it feels like a happier ending (or at least one to provide continuance into an inevitable third film) was tacked on. Based on what we see, it isn't convincing. Yes, Alejandro possesses fatherly emotions, but do we really believe he would do what he does? Or that he would even survive what happens to him? We can believe Graver can make the choices he makes, but Brolin allows a peek of the turmoil inside and gives us an antihero who shows us more than first expected. This is the third Brolin performance this year in which he plays a truly intriguing villain (or antihero) full of secrets and conflicts.
My ambivalence about Sicario: Day of the Soldado is matched by my desire to see a third film. Maybe the next chapter will bring the loose ends together and finally give us a Sicario film which doesn't just give us glimpses of greatness.
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