Sicario - Day Of The Soldado: Benecio Del Toro Is So F&$#ing Cool

This is a tale of two very different movies. The first Sicario was a tense political thriller that took an in depth look at law and morality. Is it okay to break the law if it means getting the bad guys? Is it okay to torture the hell out of the bad guy if it means getting the worse guy? The fact that the men are the ones doing all of the immoral and unethical actions while the woman is the voice of reason is another layer to an already subtextually riddled film. Sure, on the surface it's a small little action thriller set in the Mexican desert. But, below that surface are several commentaries about our government's involvement in things we may or may not have the right to be sticking our noses into. When I first saw the film I thought it was decent, but I never really understood Emily Blunt's role. She's constantly used and undermined by her male counterparts, and is never allowed to do anything exciting in the movie except protest these immoral actions of others. The first time I saw it, I felt like her role was a fault. After watching it again, I realized that her character is us... the audience. She's left in the lurch, like we're left in the lurch. She's used and manipulated just like we are used and manipulated. We don't get the full comprehension of what's going on in the film... until she does. And it's a really smart way of writing what could've otherwise been just an average action thriller. But that was Sicario. Sicario - Day of the Soldado is a different story.

This next film does away with the Emily Blunt character completely (which I think was the right move. As much as I love her as an actress, her character's arc was finished and complete with the first film). Now, we're following Brolin's Matt character. After a series of suicide bombings on US soil, the government has figured out that these terrorists are shipping into Mexico and crossing the border with help from the cartels. Matt is brought in and asked to start a war between two rival cartels. That way the two cartels will take each other out and the US has complete deniability. Matt, of course, recruits his best man and sicario - Alejandro (Benecio Del Toro) to help. Their plan involves kidnapping the daughter of the head of one cartel and blaming it on the other. Once across the border, the kidnappers  become the heroes who, now acting as DEA agents, must go back into Mexico to return the girl and complete the circle that spins into inter-cartel war. However, things don't go to plan and Alejandro and the girl are separated from the rest of the group during a firefight. When the US government has seen this fuck up... they decide it's best to cover their tracks and Matt is tasked with taking out Alejandro and the girl.

Here's the difference between the movies-- the first film had a good guy. The first film had a voice of reason and a true moral center. This film-- there are no good guys. There's just guys we root for. Sicario started out with Blunt as the protagonist and ended with Del Toro's character as the one we were most interested in. He's an awful, awful, violent, scary character, but we can somehow empathize with him. He's also the character it makes most sense to center a sequel around. And while this film does kind of deal with the same themes from the first movie, there is no real commentary in this movie. There is nothing really extra being said about the state of the US and their unnecessary political involvements. Most of that is either carried over from the first film and not explored any further, or just put on the back burner in favor of story. And this is where some people (a good handful of critics) will find the movie to be significantly lacking. Sicario - Day of the Soldado foregoes any subtext and goes straight for the action-thriller throat. And while it may not have anything to truly say about the ethics and morality that was explored in the first film - it excels everywhere else. Where Sicario was tense... this one is TENSE. Where Sicario was nerve-wracking, this one is NERVE-WRACKING. Where Sicario was exciting... this one is EXCITING.

There's a certain grime and seediness to Taylor Sheridan's writing. Each of his films (Sicario, Wind River, Hell or High Water) have this constant feeling of dread even in the "safest" of scenes. And I think, while this isn't his best movie, it is his most suspenseful. You don't so much as watch Day of the Soldado as you do FEEL it. The writing, the constant tension and lingering feeling of dread along with the most guttural soundtrack makes this film a successful thriller. While I think the first Sicario has a lot more to say and contribute to society and real social issues... Day of the Soldado is a much more entertaining film. I actually found that I enjoyed it more than the first one. And the first one is brilliant. It may have something to do with the fact that Benecio Del Toro is just so fucking cool. I could've watched Alejandro bake a cake for two hours and would've been riveted as well as gripping the arm rests of my seat anticipating something horrible happening. We get a little deeper into the character of Alejandro and his relationship with Matt. His interactions with the kidnapped girl explore his humanity a little further, which is even more of a mind fuck considering we know what a complete unrelenting psychopath the dude is and can become at any second. Del Toro brings such a quiet and understated performance to the role of hitman that it's almost intoxicating. Brolin, whose name is definitely on the cool-guy scale, but not nearly up to Del Toro status. His character is a hot-headed American who's more in-your-face with his tactics instead of calculating. He hurts you with a shit-eating grin on your face, which IS cool. But there's something about a dude with zero expression on his face unloading a gun into someone - feeling absolutely nothing. The two of them, however, form one damn watchable duo on screen. One that I could continue watching in several movies if offered to me.

You know how I know Sicario - Day of the Soldado was a great film? I saw it at a 10:30pm showtime on a Tuesday... and the theater was packed. Rather than return my ticket and see it a different day, I resigned to sit in the second row from the front. These, as everyone knows, are the worst seats in the house. But, I really did want to see the movie. About five minutes into the film until the very end of the film - I completely forgot I was sitting up front. I was so glued to the action, to the characters, to the story, I forgot my neck was turned in an awkward direction and that I was probably very uncomfortable. If a film can make you forget about these things-- it's probably pretty decent. So, for those looking for another *smart* political commentary involving Americans conducting their shady business across the Mexican border, it's not the same as the first movie. There isn't anything new to discuss morality-wise. But it is a very capable action thriller that's upped the ante with the entertainment factor and badass character factor. Don't go for the analysis, go for the Benecio.

B+