Sicario 2: Soldado - Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro film

[SwedishHeat]

I only saw this movie because I knew Taylor Sheridan wrote it, so I figured it couldn't be bad, because all the other movies he's written, I've really enjoyed.

But man, not sure what went wrong here, apart from the obvious. Maybe it was just hard for him to write a new story in an existing universe that he created, but everything seemed by the numbers. Graver having a heart after all, the gov't pulling the rug out. We really lost the "morally ambiguous" actions of these characters. It was clearly bad buys vs. good guys.

The one thing that bugged me out of all of it

Spoiler:

was leaving Alejandro for dead in the desert with the bag over his head. Like ... clearly he's not dead.

It was kind of insulting to my intelligence after the first movie that they would lean on that kind of trope.

 

[Lejuan]

The one thing that bugged me out of all of it

Spoiler:

was leaving Alejandro for dead in the desert with the bag over his head. Like ... clearly he's not dead.

It was kind of insulting to my intelligence after the first movie that they would lean on that kind of trope.

Yeah, it was lazy tropes all the way through. The carpark incident and the exchange of looks = ok, the pedestrian is going to identify the passenger later in the movie at a real inopportune moment.

It was a decently paced romp but one of those movies that bugged me more and more as the details sunk in after leaving the theatre.

 

[Mandible]

Wow! What a dud. It felt like a fan film dedication to the first one. Bad directing. Bad cinematography. (Really) bad score. No tension. Just...blah.

For me, Sicario, Hell or High Water, and Wind River are near flawless films. This thing didn't even feel like it was written by Sheridan. It was The Last Jedi of the Sicario world; breaking rules set-up from the first. One of the most confronting/powerful scenes from the first is when Del Torro confronts the guy that killed his wife and daughter, and kills his whole family without hesitation. In this one, they now say the girls father was responsible (WTF???) and he decides to protect her?

And the convenient bit in the carpark??? OMG And the end??? I burst out laughing in the cinema "Let's discuss your future."

The only bit I liked was the imagery of one of the helicopters landing on the road, while the other circled them; visually, that was epic. But the rest...

 

[SwedishHeat]

For me, Sicario, Hell or High Water, and Wind River are near flawless films. This thing didn't even feel like it was written by Sheridan.

Exactly my thoughts.



Thinking about it more I'm wondering if the point of the movie, was looking at where the trouble was coming from. Like, the US Gov't was trying to start wars between Mexican cartels, except the bombers in the movie were from New Jersey, and the "sicario" was a kid from Texas, who was 'radicalized'. Meanwhile, the cartel boss' daughter was the innocent one.

I'm pondering if it wasn't supposed to some subversion of expectations with the daughter getting into a fight, being the "troubled kid", ending up being the good one. Meanwhile, the quiet Latino American kid, ended up being the bad guy falling in with the gang.

I just figure there's gotta be something I was missing.

 

[Mandible]

Just finished watching 2 episodes of Yellowstone - and that confirms for me Sheridan didn't write Sicario 2; it must have been ghost written, or, he just smashed something out for a cash-grab... and I don't think he would have had the time for the latter - but who knows?

Yellowstone, is definitely a return to form.

 

[CallMeTheDoctor]

I actually enjoyed this quite a lot and felt it was well written. Yes, Miguel's story really was useless and I disliked his character as it brings upon more negative fire for us Mexican-Americans. However, everything else, from the border's intensity, culture, and the cartel is quite spot-on. I heard a lot of negative reviews, but I personally enjoyed it. I did have some flaws like how Moner's character essentially connected to Alejandro so quickly, and again, Miguel. I give it a solid 85/100. I hope we get a third one, but with the amount of money it is making, I find it doubtful, or would limit the budget immensely and we get lesser bang and firefights.

My dad started cracking up when Alejandro paid the grand to cross the border, as he says that it would be closer to about 8 grand per person, and that a grand is essentially a Black Friday special.

 

[Lejuan]

I started cracking up when the execution turned out the way it did. That was even worse than the carpark incident.

 

[CallMeTheDoctor]

It made sense. Dude had no experience, angle was off, so many factors. My thing is though, that should have ****ed up his upper jaw, so how did it heal well within a year and looks like no surgeries?

 

[fosing]

benecio should play joker next....

 

[Mandible]

I started cracking up when the execution turned out the way it did. That was even worse than the carpark incident.

Agreed

 

[M United]

Did they change Benicios story line in this movie? Seemed to be some sort of redemption path then bam that ending changed it all.