Benicio Del Toro and Josh Brolin are back on the border!
We saw “Sicario: Day of the Soldado,” the second chapter of the already announced “Sicario” trilogy, and here our review.
Title
“Sicario: Day of the Soldado”
Behind and in Front of the Camera
Busy with the productions of “Arrival” and “Blade Runner 2049,” Denis Villeneuve was unable to come back for the second chapter of what will be a trilogy, and for this reason, in “Sicario: Day of the Soldado,” we find at his American debut the Italian director Stefano Sollima (“Gomorra,” “Suburra”). Sollima keeps the dark tones and crudity of the U.S. and Mexican border that we have known in “Sicario”. The style of Sollima has successfully melt with the one required by the movie, giving himself some fancy shots and sophisticated choices.
Among the cast we find again Josh Brolin and the Oscar-winning Benicio Del Toro who had already shown their feeling on the screen. Main role for the young Isabela Moner who we’ll see the next year starring as Dora in the live-action movie of Dora the Explorer.
Furthermore, Catherine Keener (“Get Out,” “Kidding”), Raoul Max Trujillo (“Mayans M.C.”) and Bruno Bichir (“Che,” “Narcos”).
Who’s Got the Typewriter
Just like for “Sicario,” the screenwriter is Taylor Sheridan, who, even if he has little experience in writing, has already proved his great talent. So far he has written four features, including “Sicario: Day of the Soldado” and “Sicario”: “Hell of High Water” that has earned him an Oscar nomination, and that little lost gem of “Wind River.”
What to Know (ABSOLUTELY NO SPOILERS)
The events take place always there, on the border between U.S. and Mexico, in that land where two cultures collapse with a unique charm that has always teased filmmakers’ imagination, like Orson Welles with his “Touch of Evil.”
With a more international introduction addressing the Islamic terrorism issue, “Sicario: Day of the Soldado” brings us back to the vengeance story of Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro) and his relationship at the end of illegality with CIA and agent Matt Graver (Josh Brolin), in a modern Far West setting, proving one more time the brilliance of Taylor Sheridan in creating contemporary Western.
What You’ll Need
The characters are not presented, being “Sicario: Day of the Soldado” the second chapter of an already announced trilogy, so it would be better catching up the vision of “Sicario” to fully understand the story.
What They Say
About the style of the saga, Sollima has claimed: “This project has offered to me the possibility to use action and, in particular, physical and visual effects, to put actors in the middle and to represent the brutal side of the story. It’s one of my favorite working methods.”
Speaking of the evolution of the character, Benicio Del Toro: “The task of Alejandro is to open a war between narcotics cartel. This means that he has to pass himself off as a member of the cartel, re-experiencing in a way what they have done to his family. We find out that Alejandro has a conscience and he becomes protector of an innocent victim.”
While Brolin said: “When you see Matt in “Sicario: Day of the Soldado,” you perceive that something has changed, and that something has become deeper and he is darker than before. He’s more arrogant and egocentric, but there is more awareness in him. He feels compassion, especially at the end of the movie. You find out a side of his personality that has never shown up before. And I liked facing this challenge with myself. I love seeing an arrogant character who suddenly becomes aware of his own vulnerability.”
One Last Thing…
“Sicario: Day of the Soldado” is dedicated to the memory of Jóhann Jóhannsson, prematurely-departed composer who had worked at the first “Sicario.”
His work, though, has been honored and continued by one of his collaborators, the cellist Hildur Guðnadóttir, who has created a soundtrack based on the long low notes of her instrument and then elaborated digitally, in perfect Jóhannsson style.
Out of 5 Monkeys
