Denis Villeneuve’s 2015 Sicario was a masterpiece. It was a taut, intense story. Benicio del Toro and Emily Blunt both turned in star performances, and Josh Brolin was no slouch himself. It had a great ending that seemingly closed the characters’ various stories; or at least closed them enough for the viewers’ satisfaction. When the sequel was announced, I had one question: Why? Many fans and critics alike echoed this sentiment, as the first movie didn’t do anything to set up a sequel. A second installment, from a storytelling standpoint (disregarding the financial possibilities) a sequel seemed wholly unnecessary. And after seeing Soldado, my opinion remains unchanged.
Soldado again deals with the U.S. governments efforts to combat the Mexican drug cartels, but from a new angle. This time around, the concern is that the cartels are smuggling terrorists into the United States. As a result the government labels the cartels as terrorists, giving the CIA an expanded scope of actions they can take against them. They decide their best of course of action will be to start a war between two rival cartels, as they believe it will be easier to take them down if they’re already busy fighting each other. They plan and execute two different false flag operations. Alejandro Gillick (Benicio del Toro) kills the lawyer of one cartel, while agent Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) orchestrates the kidnapping of the daughter of a rival cartel kingpin’s daughter, Isabela (played by Isabela Moner).
This basic plot line, combined with a strong cast and the return of screenwriter Taylor Sheridan, should have resulted in at least an average movie. But the movie never quite found its footing. Besides the lack of need for this movie, there were a number of other problems. Right off the bat, Emily Blunt did not return for the sequel. She was fantastic in the first movie, and provided a sort of moral compass for the viewers. There was no such character this time around. Del Toro kind of took on that role, but we don’t get enough of his back story to make him much of a sympathetic character. He’s still a brutal, methodical assassin. Blunt’s character helped ground the first movie, something Soldado surely could have used.
Another common complaint, one which I’ll readily agree with, was the pacing. The pacing problems start right away, as we jump around to multiple locations across the world in the first 10-20 minutes. It prevented the movie from establishing any real flow and came off very disjointed. The whole movie It was missing Villeneuve’s touch; I have to imagine he would have done a better job here. If there is a third entry (more on that in a bit) I’m sincerely hoping Villeneuve will return to direct.
The pacing was further disrupted by a terrible B plot. Any time the movie cut there, it negated any forward momentum the film had gained. The B plot focused on a Mexican-American teenager in his early days working for a gang, specifically helping them smuggle Mexicans into the U.S. I couldn’t stand this character; I hated every moment he was on screen. It’s nothing against the actor, Elijah Rodriguez. By all accounts his performance was exactly what the script called for. Unfortunately the character he was given was awful.
A personal issue, which others maybe didn’t pick up on or simply didn’t care about, was the confusion behind del Toro’s character’s back story. In the first Sicario, *spoiler alert*, he kills the man responsible for the murder of his family. Yet in Soldado, we are told that cartel leader Reyes that was the one responsible. Now I know it could be possible that both men were involved, depending on their positions and who takes orders from whom. But still, it was needlessly confusing. Maybe there was no thought that it needed further clarification, but it ended up coming off as careless and sloppy.
The third act, or at least the last 20-30 minutes or so, were brutal. This stretch alone probably dropped its rating a good 8-10 points. It would have been in the low or mid 70s, but it was, to put it simply, dumb. I like to stay spoiler-free so I won’t say more than that, but it’s rough. And the very ending, the end scene? As bad a one as I’ve seen in a while. It hints at a potential third movie, and if that comes to fruition and goes in the direction Soldado hints at, I will be going into it with seriously low expectations.
It should be said that the movie does have a few good things going for it. Benicio del Toro and Josh Brolin are great. I don’t even want to think about how much worse it would have been had they not given such strong performances. Isabel Moner, though in a limited-range role, was a strong addition to the cast. Her character wasn’t well-developed, and she wasn’t much more than a plot device. But she shined in the few moments where she was given the chance to act. There are a number of cool shots and fun action sequences as well, but just not enough to overcome all the other issues.
With the heavy hitters involved, Soldado could have — perhaps should have — been a great movie. You get two stars like Brolin and del Toro and another Taylor Sheridan script and you should come out with a much better product. If the third film, already in development, does indeed get made, there are some major changes and adjustments to be made if they hope to recapture what made the first Sicario so great.
Movie: Sicario: Day of the Soldado
Starring: Josh Brolin, Benicio del Toro, Isabela Moner, Jeffrey Donovan, Catherine Keener
Genre: Crime, drama, action, thriller
Rated: R for strong violence, bloody images, language
My rating: 63/100
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