SPOILERS DOWN THE PATH; THE DISCUSSION BELOW WILL NOT BE COMPREHENSIVE WITHOUT IT.
TREAD CAREFULLY. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.
Joining the list of unnecessary sequels is the second installment in the Sicario saga. To say it's a saga sounds ridiculous enough. Certain films just do not need sequels. But hey, if Michael Bay's Transformers has 5 movies in its series kit and people still pay money to watch it, how more unwarranted can a continuation to Sicario be? At the very least, we have two great actors playing iconic characters here, and this is highly likely the reason why writer Taylor Sheridan has crafted Soldado; a standalone story in this familiar universe with no obvious ties to the first part.
Stefano Sollima's prowess in direction shines! The way he has transliterated words on paper to events on screen is simply fantastic! Live explosion in Kansas mall for instance is too real and terrifying! The same can be said about the kidnapping, satellite drone tracking, fake rescue, deaf-and-dumb sign language conversation, grenade launch into a car and the stealth shooting scenes! Gun shots, vehicle crashes and blood splashes are resounding! All in all, the filmmaker has constructed a visceral, on-camera action flick!
Dariusz Wolski's camerawork was as usual, legendary! Crystal clear quality with pitch perfect lighting has always been his strong suit! Mid-air diving and helicopter's travel alongside land vehicles are two of the many beautiful lens choreography ever put to film! Hildur Guðnadóttir's score was pulsating and the hole-through-face prosthetics was phenomenal!
As aforementioned, the ultimate reason why audience member would purchase a ticket for a Sicario follow-up could definitely be for the stalwarts Josh Brolin and Benicio del Toro! Their performances were beyond words as the couple of ruthless mercenaries! Josh Brolin as Matt Graver brought fear solely through his imposing outlook! His body language and interrogation methodology can even make an innocent person confess to anything! An even more menacing character would surely be del Toro's Alejandro Gillick! This guy means business, and if the repeated pistol shots fired can't tell that, not sure what will! Not to forget, Isabela Moner too gave a commendable work and her reactions were admirable!
With all this being said, it's extremely heartbreaking to declare that Sicario: Day of the Soldado is a motion picture that had every bit of opportunity to become a masterpiece, but unfortunately missed more than half of it! With a steady story flow, the plot had a clear vision and goal of where it's headed towards. However, to everyone's vain, three powerful potentials were set-up but neither fully realized, flourished nor paid off:
At the end of the day, what we've received was only half a film! A premature one at that! This is hurting especially after witnessing terrific sequences such as Matt manslaughtering teenagers effortlessly, interrogation on bus, Alejandro's painful struggle before encountering a near-death scenario and the surprising survival that follows, among many others! The ending leaves us hanging without a clue! It renders the final story wafer-thin too! Sure, one could argue that Alejandro sees his resemblance in the young boy-turned-criminal, therefore he's about to train him to become the next Gillick. But in all honesty, the subplot surrounding the boy could have been totally scrapped off without affecting anything.