Sicario: Day of the Soldado

Taylor Sheridan continues his story of the war on drugs in Sicario: Day of the Soldado. His sequel to the bleak crime thriller, Sicario, discusses some politically sensitive topics. But its story is too murky to touch a nerve.

Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) and his right-hand gun, Alejandro Gillick (Benicio del Toro), fight dirty against the drug cartels. A group of suicide bombers strike a Kansas City supermarket. The Government suspects that the cartels smuggled them across the border. They send Matt and Alejandro to retaliate against the cartels. They decide to turn the cartels against each other. Their main tactic is to seize Isabela Reyes (Isabela Moner), daughter of cartel kingpin Carlos Reyes, the man behind the brutal deaths of Alejandro's family.

It all goes well until their Federal Police escort turns on them. The firefight causes an international incident with Mexico. The Department of Defense disavows the mission and orders them to scrub Isabela. But Alejandro sympathizes with Isabela's predicament. He'll do what it takes to keep her safe.

Director Stefano Sollima (Suburra) makes his English-Language debut here. The screenplay mixes in several stories for 122 minutes. The Islamic suicide bomber subplot is forgotten about when their true, more local origins, are revealed. Carlos Reyes was never mentioned in the first movie, yet he's mentioned like he's always been there. Reyes himself never appears. Miguel (Elijah Rodriguez), a good kid caught up with the cartels, gets a compelling subplot with a questionable resolution.

Benicio del Toro is still the star of the show. His Alejandro is still formidable but he shows his lighter side here. The same goes for Brolin's Matt Graver. Isabela Moner as Isabela Reyes was compelling, as was the aforementioned Elijah Rodriguez. Matt's DOD superiors (Catherine Keener and Matthew Modine) were barely memorable jerks. The cartel bad guys were mostly forgettable.

Hildur Guðnadóttir's score was a great successor to the late Johann Johannson's unforgettable soundtrack from the first film. It punctuates the intense moments perfectly. It's helped by the sound design and editor Matthew Newman. The Kansas City attack and the police ambush were standout sequences. Cinematographer Dariusz Wolski's use of long takes worked well for them.

Sicario: Day of the Soldado is a dark film but it's not as bleak as the first film. Alejandro and Matt's more sympathetic portrayal helped blunt any darkness-induced audience apathy. Its logic is questionable but its tension is good. There's currently talk about a third Sicario movie. Let's hope it answers a few questions this one raised.