-"You're gonna help us start a war."
-"With who?"
-"Everyone."
Not as good as the first. Totally different but it doesn't feel fresh. If like me you finished the first wanting more of Benicio del Toro and Josh Brolin's characters, it does give that to you but not enough of it. They went for too much focus on secondary characters and subplots when really, all we want is focus on Alejandro and Matt. Anytime the movie doesn't focus on them, it drags. The new characters are very bland. Alejandro is a slightly different character in this one, he feels more calm and less impulsive. At first I thought it might be bad representation from one director to another but considering what he went through in the first it makes sense. Josh Brolin is less comedic which is a shame.
It's not Villeneuve behind the helm but it relatively keeps the same style as the first. You can tell something's missing though. Lacking a bit in creativity, it feels more Hollywood, by the book. For a franchise called Sicario, there wasn't many sicarios in this one. Not enough action. The third act was a let down. I can't say i'm looking forward to the second part of this.
I was expecting a disappointing sequel from reading a few user reviews, especially given how many of this genre of film are dumb, throwaway violence fests, doubly so for direct sequels. I found no such thing here. This was a thoroughly engrossing and intense film. I just watched Sicario two days ago, but I think this may be even better, and I really liked Sicario. The score works overtime, but this film was the exception in that it earned every BurrAWWWwwnnnn. It depresses me that anyone could find either film boring.
Brolin brings the presence, along with human uncertainty when even he is forced to face something he isn't comfortable with. He makes you think that mercenary terrorists may actually have honor, where the elected war ministers do not. And there are moments when he kills with vengeance. Benicio del Toro once again more than carries his half of the film, dialog or no. So much can be said with just a look, but you see the depth of his humanity unfold in scenes like the border homestead. Likewise, Isabela Merced gave all that the script asked of her, age in account or not. I hadn't seen her in anything serious before, but she more than proves herself here. And through Wolski's lens she looks like an animate doll.
Speaking of which, the cinematography got to go a lot more places this time, lingering on different subjects in more settings, and Dariusz Wolski's photography was gorgeous throughout, whether shooting the landscape, or subjects. I'll also keep an ear out for Hildur Guðnadóttir's score work. Honestly, this was one of the best Director/Cinematographer/Composer/Writer combos I've seen in a while.
Noticeably not as commanding as its predecessor, but 'Sicario: Day of the Soldado' is still a good time.
It's pleasing to have the returns of Benicio del Toro and Josh Brolin, the former isn't as great as before though the latter is basically the same. Isabela Merced, meanwhile, makes for a positive addition. Some parts of the story are more interesting than others, e.g. the bits directly with Elijah Rodriguez's Miguel aren't all that noteworthy.
It does set the atmosphere really well, sound-wise it's good - except for that one amusing (unintentionally, granted) use of 'girl screaming' stock audio, which I'm fairly certain is the exact same sound effect used in 'RollerCoaster Tycoon' back in the day - whatta game, by the way.
One (real) criticism I do have, mind, is the lighting. I saw a few reviewers noting that for the 2015 original too though I didn't see it (or I guess I did, ha) there. Here, however, it's obvious... especially early on. Once the plot gets moving it gets less and less noticeable, but still.
I can't say a sequel was needed, though at least they did an acceptable job with it. Time will tell if they do so again for 'Sicario: Capos'.
8.5/10 - Oh, wow, that movie was intense! Lots of action and the slower-paced story moments weren't really boring either. I didn't expect much but really "enjoyed" this movie (I hope it isn't based on a real story - although I wonder how much of it reflects real events).
I didn't like the ending that much but it was also kinda good. Could've definitely been much worse. I guess we just need a third movie now :D
Some notes regarding the events:
Some bad luck.
It sucked when Alejandro died. And then it sucked even more when he didn't and I thought he'd be half dead. Luckily he's pretty fine at the end.
That grenade at the end :D So badass! You don't mess with Alejandro...
Would I say this film is better than the first one, no...... but it has elements that are better than the first film and it does address a very interesting subject of America will do some pretty horrible stuff to get the job done even if it makes no difference at all at the end of the day (like most countries to be fair).
If you liked the first film then I promise you won't be upset as this is a super solid sequel and almost on par, the one thing this film does is it develops the characters of Benicio Del Toro (Alejandro Gillick) and Josh Brolin (Matt Graver) a lot better and makes you understand their motivations as characters a lot better. Also, Isabela Merced (Isabel Reyes) was perfect in this film and if this wasn't more of an action film than the first one it would have been better recognized.
This brings me to the next point, it's obvious they changed directors from Denis to Stefano Sollima and in my opinion yeah he isn't as good as a director but he handles this film pretty well and I have to say I think he handled the actions scenes a bit better though the film lacked the tension of the first film but do not let this put you off as he does a great job and he had big boots to fill and I think he did it.
Serious, I love the Sicario films and I look forward to seeing if they make a 3rd one but if they don't I feel satisfied with both films.
Review by TeubenVIP BlockedParent2023-09-10T02:39:04Z
How can you go from that first movie to this mediocre action flick? I can't believe these two movies had the same writer.
It's a decent action movie but that's about it.
They basically forced in another "top dog" cartel leader to justify Alejandro being involved again. Somehow this guy was also related to, apparently even ordered, the execution of his family, while the implication was clearly that he already killed that person in the first movie. We also never get to see or hear about this guy again because the entire movie revolves around his daughter and the plot simply never progresses beyond getting her over the border to the US, back to Mexico again (up until this point the movie still made sense), aaaand back over the border to the US again.
I saw someone mention that they added more depth to Alejandro's character by telling us more about his backstory. We were told the same story we heard before but now his late daughter is also deaf. Definitely a major expansion on the Alejandro lore.
Other than that we get to see some Mexican-American kid who is somehow a complete degenerate cold-blooded killer when the situation asks for it. We never learn about his motivations beyond "money".
The main plot revolving around cartels importing terrorists is also completely thrown out of the window in an apparent twist but in reality it just felt like a lazy way to wrap up the story because the writer had no idea how to end it.