Sicario: Day of the Soldado movie review (2018)

In place of that craft, we get a brutal, often ugly journey to the turmoil of the US-Mexico border. Almost as if the film was created by a screenwriting machine designed to mine current national fears and controversies as completely as possible, “Sicario: Day of the Soldado” opens with scenes of suicide bombers—one as a group of Mexicans are trying to cross the border, and, in one of the most graphically upsetting scenes in a major film in a long time, another in a grocery store in Kansas City. There we’re treated to the shot of a mother and child desperately trying to get to an exit before they’re blown to bits. It’s almost as if Sollima is laying down a gauntlet: “This will be a violent, harsh experience—leave now if you can’t handle it.” It will cross the line into gross exploitation for some people. You’ve been warned.

The bombings send Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) all the way to Somalia to figure out how and why a terrorist would come through Mexico. His investigation draws the interest of Secretary of Defense James Riley (Matthew Modine) and black ops muckety muck Cynthia Foards (a horrendously wasted Catherine Keener), who tasks Graver with, well, creating chaos across the Mexican border. The US Government wants to pit the cartels against each to disrupt the ecosystem and keep them focused on their rivals instead of anything else—that and the US Government thrives on international drama, of course. So the plan is to kidnap the daughter of one of the cartel kingpins, a man named Carlos Reyes, who just so happens to be the man that Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro) has sworn vengeance against. Matt brings in Alejandro and gives him carte blanche to do what it takes.

Once “Day of the Soldado” picks up steam, there are some undeniably well-done sequences, including a harrowing ambush on a Mexican road, and the performers are all strong. Brolin can do this kind of strong-chinned military leader thing in his sleep, but he adds an intriguing (if underdeveloped) undercurrent of rebellion to his character, sketching in a man who will follow orders … to a point. But, once again, the movie is Del Toro’s. He remains one of our best actors, finding ways to deepen minor beats in a movie that doesn’t really allow for pauses for subtlety.