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Movie Review: Sicario: Day of the Soldado
The sequel to the 2015 hit is already out of date on US border issues
Sicario: Day of the Soldado (Sicario 2: Soldado)
Directed by Stefano Sollima
With Benicio del Toro, Josh Brolin, Isabela Moner, Jeffrey Donovan, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Catherine Keener
Some films suffer from bad timing. Sicario: Day of the Soldado takes us to the US / Mexico border with some convoluted plot about terrorists and drug cartels — right as the actual US administration has implemented harsh zero-tolerance policies that split children from their parents as they try to enter the country
Sicario: Day of the Soldado is a sequel to the 2015 hit film Sicario, which was directed by Denis Villeneuve. He has made several clever films both before and after it, including the tense kidnapping drama Prisoners and the sci-fi epic Blade Runner 2049.
The sequel, helmed by Italian crime drama director Stefano Sollima, lacks that sense of style. It plays as
To stop the cartels, CIA operative Matt Graver (played by Josh Brolin) comes up with the idea of kidnapping the teenage daughter of a cartel kingpin and taking to her to the US.
What connection this could possibly have to stop Islamic terrorists from entering the US is thin at best, and never really explained beyond the idea that it will get cartels to fight each other somehow.
As anyone who follows the news knows, they are already fighting and don't need help in that department.
Normally a kidnapped girl would be a sympathetic figure, but Isabela Reyes (Isabela Moner) is from the start depicted as a spoiled brat who starts fights at school and them bullies the principal because she knows she can't be expelled due to her cartel connections.
Still, she is the victim in the film. Despite her family's connections she does not deserve to be kidnapped and used as a pawn in a violent international game
With the headlines currently filled with stories about families separated at the US border, the plot about US secret agents kidnapping a Mexican girl hits all the wrong chords
If the action in the film had been more interesting the score would have worked. Instead, it serves to point out that the plot is not living up to expectations
Sicario: Day of the Soldado is off to a bad start. The generic filming style and low-key acting
It is a shame, as currently, the issue of immigration could benefit from a serious onscreen discussion. But that can't be found here.
The complex situation at the border can be told well, Steven Soderbergh's 2000 film Traffic, which also stars Benicio Del Toro, presented a multi-level look at issues in the framework of a compelling drama.
Sicario: Day of the Soldado just uses the border as an excuse to stage some violent scenes.
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