Such a frustrating disappointment

Strong and Moving!

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Sicario won us over with its gritty, edge of your seat look at special forces operating off the grid against the Mexican mafia. The introduction of the kidnapped daughter of a mafia boss into the sequel made character motivations confusing and opened major plot holes. The core story of black ops taking care of business is still intact and satisfying as ever. Would recommend a watch, but known that writers took some shortcuts to move the story along.

In the wake of the bloody aftermath of 'Sicario' the narrative shifts in the direction of Josh Brolin's character Matt Graver. Known in the government for his carefree ability to carry out military dirty work on foreign soil with savage efficiency. On the endlessly grimy US-Mexican border, terrorists are being smuggled through to Texas hidden as immigrants. After a harrowing suicide-bomb attack tears through a shopping mall, the cartel is elevated to 'terrorist' status, freeing the military's ability to intervene on activities across the border. Matt is assigned to mitigate a war between the cartel leaders by feigning the kidnap of a leader's daughter. He again recruits an ever volatile and revenge driven Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro) to aid in the undertaking of this dangerous and gritty mission. Following the monumental critical success of the first installment, 'Day of the Soldado' is poised for triumph. The first act is excellent, a chilling sequence of events introducing the buildup to the terror attack and subsequent reaction of the government. Filmed with military precision and establishing the ruthless 'no rules' attitude the characters are still willing to adopt. The action scenes are thrilling and realistic, bullet casings clanging off surfaces and distressing blood mists heighten the viewers immersion. Brolin and Del Toro turn in excellent performances as dogged soldiers with a complex balance of mutual respect and conflict of interest. Credit to Stefano Sollima for directing many gripping action sequences and an overall accomplished movie. Dariusz Wolski steps up from an accomplished portfolio to produce a pleasing visual landscape. Although both screenplays are written by the extraordinarily talented Taylor Sheridan, 'Day of the Soldado' suffers from some plot flaws and struggles to conclusively tie up loose ends. The particularly perplexing decision for Alejandro's character to abruptly deeply care for the captive Isabel Reyes (Isabela Moner) doesn't seem to be an action that his character would make even in spite of his lost family. Furthermore, the government's unexpected decision to wipe clean the mission also appears to be a sudden change of events that doesn't quite hold up with the tempo. Unfortunately, the beautiful nuances dripping from every scene of the original aren't entirely successfully built upon (think - spellbinding 'bridge attack' and edge of the seat 'covert night assault'). The film certainly stands up to the original but suffers from the loss of Denis Villeneuve (Director), Rodger Deakins (Cinematography) and the late Jóhann Jóhannsson (Music). What this instead produces is an action movie rather than a seething complex drama. A great sequel which makes for a thrilling and captivating watch. Fortunately for audiences, 'Day of the Soldado' is the second installment in a proposed trilogy. "So. You want to be a Sicario?". Overall: 7.5

Where the original Sicario was carried by the suspence created by the contrasting naive FBI-agent Macy (Emily Blunt), the cynical CIA-agent Matt (Josh Brolin) and the vengeful Alejandro (Benicio del Toro) as ruthless sicario turned against the drug carlets operating along the US-Mexico border, the sequal lacks this tension and becomes an analogue and rather predictable story. Decent acting performances, and attempts to recreate the original dark athmosphere cannot save the weak plot, where several interesting issues launched at the start are not followed through. This makes for a rather unfulfilling experience, despite hints of another sequal.

A great follow up to an amazing first film, Del Toro and Brolin still give stellar performances. I'm keen to see how they follow-up this one.