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| Benicio del Toro stars in SICARIO: Day of the Soldado |
Different Worlds
Rotten Tomatoes Plot: In SICARIO: Day of the Soldado, the series begins a new chapter. In the drug war, there are no rules - and as the cartels have begun trafficking terrorists across the U.S. border, federal agent Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) calls on the mysterious Alejandro (Benicio del Toro), whose family was murdered by a cartel kingpin, to escalate the war in nefarious ways. Alejandro kidnaps the kingpin's daughter to inflame the conflict - but when the girl is seen as collateral damage, her fate will come between the two men as they question everything they are fighting for. Directed by Stefano Sollima.
Sicario was our #2 film of 2015; so expectations were high for Day of the Soldado, despite the absence of director Denis Villeneuve and star Emily Blunt. Sollima's sequel? A one-note tragedy, void of hope, originality and (surprisingly) thrills. That leaves Brolin & del Toro with nothing to do besides aim & fire... an unforgivable waste of superb talent. The government string-pullers (Catherine Keener & Matthew Modine) are dull, old and unconvincing, and the new characters (particularly teen Isabela Moner) utterly forgettable. What's left? Two hours of arbitrary/redundant action sequences, in between long stretches of emptiness. What a shame.
Grade: C
