Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018)

Director: Stefano Sollima
Stars: Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin, Isabela Moner
Runtime: 122 minutes

Synopsis: A team of federal agents is given the mission to start a war between Mexican drug cartels after it was revealed that they had been sneaking terrorists into American soil.

Performances: 9/10
Screenplay: 7/10
Special Effects: N.A.
Costumes/Makeup: 8/10
Editing: 6/10
Cinematography: 7/10
Score/Soundtrack: 7/10 

Verdict: The second installment in this trilogy does not see the return of director Denis Villeneuve nor cinematographer Roger Deakins. And while their absence was felt, it didn't really affect my overall enjoyment of the film which I knew was going to be controversial and sometimes hard to watch after the opening sequence alone. Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro are back as federal agents Matt Graver and Alejandro, and they stole every single scene they were in just like in its predecessor. The supporting actors, while not having as much to do as the two leads, all still gave strong performances with Isabela Moner leading the cavalry. The tension was handled excellently, which was primordial for the movie to work, and the score did its job of making the audience feel uneasy and stressed. However, I'd still put this movie beneath the first one. Beside not being as well shot and edited as its prequel, it also suffered from some writing issues that I couldn't overlook. There was a subplot going on that I just wasn't interested in. Every time they cut to it, I found myself wanting to go back to the main plot with Del Toro and Brolin. Also, the final third didn't quite work for me as well. It went on for way too long and kind of became more generic. I gave "Day of the Soldado" a final score of 8/10, but it might go down to a 7/10 on second viewing. But there is no doubt that this is a movie that should be checked out by everyone, especially people tired of the mediocrity of safe blockbusters that follow the same boring formula (I'm looking at you, Jurassic World).

Final Grade: 8/10